Runaway Crusaders
by MontyCS
Summary: An alternate take on "Ponyville Confidential". Feeling no longer wanted in town after being exposed at "Gabby Gums", the Cutie Mark Crusaders feel they have no other choice but to run away from home. Author's Note: I do not claim ownership of MLP: FiM or any of it's characters. This is a fanfic made purely for fun.
1. Runaway Crusaders Part 1

**My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic**

**Runaway Crusaders**

_Author's note__: This fanfic begins right after the scene where the entire town coldly shuns the CMC for their gossip column as "Gabby Gums". Everything else in this episode before that happend exactly as it did in the show._

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo could only hang their heads in despair as all around them, the whole town slammed it's doors, and windows in their faces, with some ponies even pulling in their welcome mats. It was no use. How could they get another story to satisfy Diamond Tiara if nopony, not even their own friends and family would talk to them, or even give them a chance to explain? The simple anwser was, they couldn't.

Finally giving up, the Crusaders sadly headed back to their clubhouse, the only place that felt safe to them anymore in a neighborhood they seemed to be no longer welcome in. Entering their "sanctuary", and closing the door behind them, the three little fillies could do nothing but reflect on all that had happend, and wonder just how things had gotten so bad. When they'd joined their school newspaper, "The Foal Free Press", a week ago in attempt to get their cutie marks in journalism, they'd never imagined that things would end up like this.

"We just wanted our cutie marks...", a distraught Sweetie Belle said, "But instead, we've ruined all of our friendships!"

"This is th' worst day ever!", Applebloom wailed.

"Oh yeah?", Scootaloo said glumly, "Wait til tomorrow, our most embarrassing moments are about to be published for everypony to laugh at!"

The three fillies felt a shudder go through them, for it wasn't hard to picture what the next day would be like. After everything that had happend, everypony in town would probably be more than happy to ridicule them. For all Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo knew, they would be taken to town square to be publically humiliated by the entire town, with everypony pelting them with garbage as they all laughed and jeered at them. The thought was horrible.

"So what do we do?" Apple Bloom asked.

"I don't know, but we're not leaving this clubhouse until we think of something!", Sweetie Belle replied.

For a long time, they just sat there in deep thought, but a good idea simply would not come to mind. The three fillies just didn't know what to do. At last, Scootaloo spoke up.

"This is so unfair...", she moaned.

"Scoot?", Apple Bloom inquired.

"If those stories were so hurtful to everypony, then why did they like them so much in the first place?", Scootaloo bitterly asked, "I mean, I know that we joined the Foal Free Press to try and get our cutie marks. But that's not the only reason why we did it! We also wrote all those stories because everypony wanted to read them!"

Sweetie Belle and Apple Bloom both gave Scootaloo a sympathetic look; they had a hunch that it wasn't just the school newspaper that she was so upset about.

"You're talking about Rainbow Dash, aren't you?", Sweetie Belle asked.

Scootaloo nodded slowly, her face a mixture of both bitterness, and sadness. Nothing in this whole mess had crushed her more than how Rainbow Dash had furiously taken a raincloud, and dumped rainwater all over the three fillies for that story they'd written about her getting a hooficure at the spa. And what made it worse was the fact that Rainbow Dash herself had said before that she'd love for a story to written about her in the paper.

Rainbow Dash had always been the one pony who Scootaloo had truly looked up to, and she'd always wished that the pegasus mare would be like her big sister. And the harsh, unfair way that she'd treated them had left Scootaloo feeling heartbroken.

"I know that we wrote that story about her...", the pegasus filly said miserably, "...but she didn't have to treat us that way. And besides, she _wanted_ a story to be written about her!"

"I know...", Sweetie Belle replied, looking to change the subject, "But the truth is, 'Gabby Gums' really was our fault to begin with. We were the ones who started the gossip column in the first place. Nopony is wrong about that..."

"But it ain't _all_ our fault!", Apple Bloom put in, "We wanted ta stop when we realized that we were hurtin' everypony's feelin's, but then Diamond Tiara threatened to print those embarrassin' pictures of us if we did!"

For a moment, Sweetie Belle felt a surge of hope. "We've got to tell somepony.", she began, "If everypony knew what was really going on..."

"Why bother?", Scootaloo whined, "Do you honestly think anypony is gonna believe us? They'll probably think that we're just trying to make up excuses!"

"_Then what are we gonna do?_", a desperate Sweetie Belle asked.

As Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo kept trying think of something, anything to get them out of this huge mess, Apple Bloom suddenly became very silent. The earth filly was thinking about the last thing her brother, Big Macintosh had said to them when they had approached him, and Applejack earlier to try to get a new story, and possibly ask for help.

Both of Apple Bloom's siblings had been too angry to listen, with Applejack refusing to even look at them, and had only responded with their big brother's usual "Eeyup", and "Nnnope" responses. Big Mac on the other hand, had been so angry that he did something he almost never did: he'd actually SPOKEN to express his feelings, and Apple Bloom just couldn't get what he'd said to them out of her mind:

_"You should be ashamed of yourself, humilatin' yer sister an' me like that! We don't wanna talk ta any y'all right now, so take yer little gossip column an' yer embarrassing photographs an' just GO AWAY!"_

_"...just GO AWAY!"_

_"...GO AWAY!" _

For a long moment, Apple Bloom remained silent, carefully pondering what she was about to say next. At last, she took a deep breath, and turned towards her friends.

"Girls...we might as well face it...", the earth filly said, "Everypony hates us now. Nopony'll listen ta us, and there ain't nopony we can go to fer help. So maybe...maybe mah brother's right..."

"What do you mean?", Sweetie Belle asked.

Apple Bloom paused as tears began to well in her eyes. "Mah brother told us ta go away. So maybe...Maybe we _should _just...go away..."

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo froze in disbelief as they realized just what their friend was suggesting.

"You...You mean we should..._run away.._?", Scootaloo asked.

"Why not?", Apple Bloom sadly replied, "Nopony wants us around anymore. There's no point in stayin' someplace where we ain't wanted."

Tears began to stream down Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo's cheeks as their friend's words fully sank in. Leave Ponyville, their home, and the only friends and family they'd ever known? It was unimaginable. And yet... They could think of nothing to argue against what Apple Bloom had said. If no one would listen to them or help them, if nopony wanted them around, then what was the point of staying?

Finally, Sweetie Belle found her voice. "So... That's it then..? We'll just run...run away?"

"And...n-never return?", Scootaloo added.

For a moment, Apple Bloom hesitated, for the thought of leaving Ponyville was just as terrible to her as it was to her friends. But Ponyville no longer wanted them, so how could they stay here? How could they ever face the town again?

"Yes...", Apple Bloom said at last, hanging her head in resignation, "We will..."

After another long moment of silence, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo tearfully nodded, before the three fillies came together in a group hug. It was a terrible decision, one that they could never bear, but after everything that had happend, they were resigned to the fact that the damage had been done, and that they were no longer welcome in town. Their time in Ponyville was over...

* * *

Fortunately for Apple Bloom, neither of her siblings were home when she got back to Sweet Apple Acres. She had no idea where they were, but it didn't matter. Granny Smith however, was fast asleep in her rocking chair, taking her afternoon nap. However, it wasn't too hard for Apple Bloom to sneak past her, as her grandmother almost never woke up from her nap.

Reaching her bedroom, Apple Bloom packed a few of her favorite things into her backpack, before heading over to the night stand beside her bed, upon which sat a picture of her and her family, including her long gone parents. For a long moment, she hesitated, as she knew that the picture would serve as a reminder of all that had happend if she took it along. But ulitmately, she decided that there was simply no way she could leave without keeping at least one happy memory of her family.

Picking the picture up, Apple Bloom stared at it for a moment, with the figures of her parents standing out to her the most, because after everything that had happend that day, the earth filly couldn't help but wonder, if they were here right now, would they be mad at her to? Would they turn her away just as her siblings had? Apple Bloom didn't know, and didn't want to think about it either. Blinking back tears, she quickly stuffed the picture into her backpack, and headed back downstairs.

Silently moving to the back door, Apple Bloom stopped for a moment to spare a final look back at her sleeping grandmother.

"Goodbye, granny...", she whispered tearfully, before slipping out the door, and heading back to the clubhouse.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sweetie Belle made her way back to the Carousel Boutique, and was also fortunate not to run into her sister. Most likely, she was out buying materials for new dresses, or visiting friends. Or perhaps she'd locked herself inside her inspiration room so she could concentrate on her work and not have to see the little sister that had "betrayed" her by publishing her diary. Despondent, Sweetie Belle could only sigh in regret as she headed to the guest bedroom where she stayed to pack her things.

Then, she was just about to leave, when she suddenly remembered that there was something else she simply couldn't leave behind. Using her slowing developing magic, Sweetie Belle retrieved a small white unicorn filly doll from off the guest bed where she slept. The doll had been a gift from her and Rarity's parents, and Sweetie Belle treasured it more than anything.

Thinking of her parents made the unicorn filly wish that they were there so that she could say goodbye, and thank them for everything, or at least hug them one more time. But they weren't there, and so instead, Sweetie Belle hugged her doll, a token of their love for her, as tight as she could. It wasn't enough, but she supposed that it was better than nothing at all. It would have to be.

Placing the doll inside her backpack, Sweetie Belle quickly made her way back to the clubhouse.

* * *

Finally, Scootaloo arrived back home, and immediately headed to her room to pack up as well. Then suddenly, just as she was finishing up, something sitting on the nightstand beside the pegasus filly's bed caught her eye. It was the picture that she, and Rainbow Dash had taken together at Sugarcube Corner when Rainbow Dash had appeared to give a speech to the fan club that Scootaloo herself had started. Seeing the picture made Scootaloo stop, and think about her former idol.

She thought about how much she'd looked up to Rainbow Dash, and how much she wished that the sky blue pegasus would be like her big sister. Then, she thought about how Rainbow Dash had coldly shunned her and her friends when they'd approached her for a new story and for help, just like everypony else in town had. How Rainbow Dash had spitefully dumped rainwater on them without even giving them a chance to explain...after Rainbow Dash herself had prevously said that she'd love to have a story written about her...

In a sudden, and intense burst of anger, Scootaloo let out a scream, and lashed out with her hoof, knocking the picture off of the nightstand to shatter on the floor. However, the sound of the shattering frame snapped her back to the present, and for a long moment, the pegasus filly stared in shock at the broken picture, unable to believe that she'd actually done that. And it was in that moment that she suddenly remembered that Rainbow Dash hadn't poured the rainwater on them until after they, in fact Scootaloo herself, had asked her for another story.

Remembering that caused a new feeling of self-condemnation to fill Scootaloo's being, somewhat lessening her feelings of anger as she realized that that had not been the smartest thing of her to have asked the angry Rainbow Dash in that moment.

"She still didn't have to treat us that way...", Scootaloo muttered, her voice a mix of anger, and sadness.

The truth was, Scootaloo didn't know how she felt. While she _was _angry, and bitter about how Rainbow Dash had treated her and her friends, she was also angry at herself for being so stupid. But most of all, she was sad; sad that Rainbow Dash, her idol, hated her. Sad that it had really come to this. At last, the pegasus filly let out a depressed sigh. What did it matter? Either way, Rainbow Dash would never be like her big sister now. Nothing would ever happen between them...

For a brief moment, the pegasus filly considered taking down all of her Rainbow Dash memorabilia, but ultimately decided that there was no point. She was leaving and wouldn't be coming back.

Grabbing a pencil, and a piece of paper, Scootaloo wrote a goodbye letter to her family, before grabbing her scooter, and heading back to the clubhouse.

* * *

As the sun began to set over Ponyville, the Crusaders made their way to the outskirts of town. They had no idea where they were actually going to go, the only thing they knew was that could no longer stay where they were. For a moment, they paused at the top of a hill to give Ponyville, the only home they'd ever known, a final look.

"Goodbye Ponyville...", Sweetie Belle sniffled, "We'll never forget you..."

"Yeah... It was... It was fun while it lasted...", Scootaloo managed to say, trying very hard not to cry.

Apple Bloom choked up a bit as she gazed at the distant shape of her family's farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, but managed to hold herself together, for now anyways.

"Come on, girls...", she said, wiping away a tear with her hoof, "It's time ta go."

After a brief moment of hesitation, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo nodded, and at last, the three little fillies sorrowfully turned away from the town, before slowing, and silently heading off into the sunset...

* * *

The next morning, Celestia's sun rose high in the sky to start a brand new day. Inside the Apple Family farmhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack, and Big Macintosh were just about to head out to begin their chores for the day. Granny Smith however, had a growing feeling that something wasn't right. Apple Bloom hadn't come down for breakfast, and Granny Smith had never known her granddaughter to miss out on apple cinnamon oatmeal in the morning. In fact, now that the elderly earth pony thought about it, she hadn't heard a word out of Apple Bloom all last night.

Somewhat concerned, Granny Smith promptly headed upstairs to her granddaughter's room.

"Apple Bloom?", she called, giving the door a few knocks. "It's time ta get up."

There was no anwser.

"Come on, Apple Bloom, move yer caboose.", Granny Smith said as she turned the knob, and opened the door, "Yer gonna be late fer-"

Granny Smith suddenly stopped in mid-sentence. Apple Bloom's room was empty; the yellow earth filly was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello? Apple Bloom? Are ya in here?"

Walking into the room, Granny Smith looked around for a moment before finally noticing that Apple Bloom's backpack was gone. Had Apple Bloom gotten up early, and left for school already? While it was by no means impossible, it was also very strange. Why would she leave without even letting her family know?

Puzzled, Granny Smith headed back downstairs, and stepped outside to where Applejack, and Big Mac were just about to get started on their chores.

"Did either of ya see Apple Bloom this morning?", Granny Smith asked her other two grandchildren.

"Nnnope.", answered Big Mac.

"We haven't seen her since yesterday, Granny." Applejack replied.

Granny Smith shook her head, "Ah just went up ta her room ta wake her up, but she wasn't there..."

"She must've left early fer school or somethin'...", Applejack shrugged

"That's what Ah was thinkin', but it ain't like her to just up an' leave without even sayin' goodbye.", the elderly earth pony said.

Applejack scowled, "She an' her friends probably got some important '_work_' ta do on their school paper."

"Eeyup.", an annoyed Big Mac agreed.

Granny Smith was somewhat taken aback by their change in demeanor. She'd had a strong feeling since yesterday that her grandchildren had something on their minds. Actually, it seemed like nearly everypony in Ponyville had something on their minds, as she'd heard that there was some major controversy going on in town. Something about the school newspaper...

"Come ta think of it, what's that all about?", Granny Smith asked, "Ah heard that something's been goin' on in town about Apple Bloom's school paper print'n some controversial stuff, an' everypony in town's all worked up over it somethin' fierce."

"Ya heard right, Granny...", Applejack nodded, "Unfortunately, both Big Mac, and Ah got stories written 'bout us in that darned gossip column to."

Concerned, Granny Smith looked at her grandchildren intently, "An' did either of ya have a talk with Apple Bloom 'bout that?"

"No, not really...", Applejack said, "The Crusaders came by yesterday, but I didn't want ta talk ta them, though Big Mac sure gave 'em a piece o' his mind before tellin' them ta get lost."

Granny Smith stared at her grandchildren, a look of shock etched on her face, which quickly morphed into a look of anger and disgust. "Why, Ah don't believe what Ah just heard! You two should be ashamed of yerselves, treatin' yer little sister like that!"

Applejack and Big Mac were stunned by their grandmother's angry words.

"What?", they both said in shock, before Applejack said, "Why are ya mad at _us_? Apple Bloom an' her friends are th' ones who..."

But Granny Smith wasn't having it. "Ah' know what she an' her friends did!", she snapped, "But there ain't nothin' right 'bout th' way you two acted! How could you be so harsh with yer sister? An' over somethin' as stupid as a gossip column?"

"But Granny...", Applejack protested.

"Look...", Granny Smith said, calming down some, "I know what they did was wrong, but do ya honestly think that Apple Bloom would hurt either of ya on purpose?"

That brought Applejack, and Big Mac up short, because deep down, despite how angry they'd been at Apple Bloom, they knew that their grandmother was right.

"Ya'll seem ta forget that Apple Bloom an' her friends are just little fillies.", Granny Smith continued, "All little fillies make mistakes. They don't know any better. And th' thing ta do when ya'll have a problem is ta talk things over with 'em so ya'll can get everythin' straightened out! Not yell at 'em and shut 'em out like you two did! Come ta think of it, that's probably why she left so early, she was probably afraid ta even look at ya!"

"We... We didn't mean...", Applejack stammered.

"Ah hate ta say this, darlin'...", Granny Smith sighed, "But Ah' fear that if yer Ma and Pa were here, they'd be mighty disappointed in th' two of ya just like Ah am right now. We always tried to teach ya that two wrongs don't make a right, an' what you two did ta yer little sister an' her friends was probably just as hurtful as anything written in that gossip column."

Applejack's ears began to droop at her grandmother's words, "But... But..."

"Enough. Ah've got some work ta do inside. In th' meantime, it seems ta me that ya'll have a lot ta think about..."

And with that, Granny Smith headed back inside farmhouse as Applejack and Big Mac looked on. For a long moment, the two siblings just stood there as their grandmother's words continued to resonate throughout their heads. And before long, they began to think back to that moment yesterday afternoon when Apple Bloom and her friends had approached them to try and reason with them and ask for help.

Looking back at how she'd shut out her little sister like that, as the little filly had pleaded with her siblings to listen to her, was enough to make Applejack's heart shrivel up in guilt. She knew how much Apple Bloom looked up to her, and the orange earth pony could only imagine how terrible her behavior had made her little sister feel.

At the same time, Big Mac recalled how he'd berated the Crusaders and told them to go away. He'd been just as angry as Applejack. Angry enough that he'd actually verbally expressed it, something very out of character for him. But now, after what Granny Smith had said, the only thing the earth stallion could think about was Apple Bloom sadly walking away with her friends, her little heart broken, having been coldly turned away by her own family.

At last, Applejack looked imploringly at her big brother, as if silently begging him to tell her that their grandmother was wrong, that they hadn't been too hard on their little sister. But after an agonizingly long moment, Big Mac only hung his head in shame, and said nothing.

Getting no reassurance from her brother, Applejack could only bury her face in her hat, overcome with remorse as Granny Smith's words fully sank in.

"Oh, Apple Bloom...", Applejack moaned.

After another long moment of reflection, Applejack finally let out a long sigh, and looked back up her brother, with the two siblings sharing a silent nod. They knew now what they needed to do. Granny Smith was right, they had to straighten things out with their little sister...

And so, some time later, Applejack, and Big Mac took a break from their chores, and headed back inside to talk to Granny Smith again.

"Granny...", Applejack said, "Big Mac, an' Ah were thinkin' about what ya said earlier and...well...if mah memory serves me right, it should soon be about time for recess ta begin at th' Ponyville Schoolhouse, so Big Mac an' Ah thought that maybe we could take this time ta go have a little talk with Apple Bloom..."

"Eeyup.", Big Mac agreed.

Granny Smith smiled, "Now that's th' Applejack, an' Big Mac Ah know an' love! Go, with mah blessin'. The rest of th' chores can wait fer a spell."

"Thanks, Granny. We won't be long.", Applejack said, before heading out the door with Big Mac.

Applejack and Big Mac arrived at the Ponyville Schoolhouse just in time for recess to start, and as they approached the front entrance, a large group of schoolponies came rushing out, with the two siblings barely managing to avoid being knocked over. But as they regained their bearings, they suddenly realized that they didn't see Apple Bloom anywhere in the group that had just exited.

Somewhat puzzled, Applejack and Big Mac headed inside, where they found Cheerlie busy at her desk grading papers.

"Oh, hello Applejack. Hello Big Mac.", Cheerlie greeted them with a smile, "Is there something I can do for you?"

"Cheerlie, is Apple Bloom here?", Applejack asked.

"No, she isn't.", Cheerlie replied, looking a bit confused. "She never came in this morning. Actually, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo didn't come in today either. I thought the three of them were out sick.".

It was true. Now that Cheerlie mentioned it, Applejack and Big Mac suddenly realized that they hadn't seen Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo outside either.

"That's strange.", Cheerlie continued, "They've never played hooky before. It's not like them."

As Applejack and Big Mac exited the schoolhouse, they began to grow rather concerned. Cheerlie was right; skipping school was not like Apple Bloom, or her friends at all. And Granny Smith had been sure that their little sister had left this morning.

Then, a thought came to the two siblings, and they promptly began to trek back towards Sweet Apple Acres, before heading in the direction of the Crusaders' clubhouse. Perhaps being exposed as Gabby Gums had upset Apple Bloom, and her friends so much that they were spending the day hiding out there. It'd make perfect sense. However, upon arriving at the clubhouse, Applejack and Big Mac found it to be completely empty, with no sign of Apple Bloom, or her friends.

Now, Applejack and Big Mac were _really_ starting to get concerned. If Apple Bloom wasn't at home, hadn't gone to school, and wasn't at the Crusaders' clubhouse, then where _was_ she? By the time they made it back to the farmhouse, the siblings had begun to worry for real.

"What do ya mean she ain't at school?!", a shocked Granny Smith asked, once her grandchildren explained the situation to her.

"Just what we said! She ain't at school!", Applejack said, "Cheerlie said she never even showed up today!"

"And then we went ta check th' Crusaders' clubhouse, but she wasn't there either!", Big Mac added.

"But she must've left this mornin'!", Granny Smith said, "She wasn't in her room when Ah went ta check on her, an' neither was her backpack..."

As Granny Smith trailed off, Applejack suddenly had a terrible thought... If Apple Bloom hadn't been planning on going to school, then why would she take her backpack with her? Unless...

"Oh no...", she breathed as the realization washed over her, "Ya don't think..."

Without another word, the orange earth pony ran right past Granny Smith, and into the farmhouse before sprinting upstairs. Upon reaching her little sister's room, Applejack's worst fears were soon realized when she saw that Apple Bloom wasn't the only thing that was missing.

"Oh no! No! Apple Bloom!" she screamed.

"Applejack! What is it?!", Big Mac asked as he and Granny Smith appeared at the door.

"All of her favorite things are missin'...", Applejack cried, her eyes flooding with tears, "Even her picture of Ma an' Pa! Granny, Big Mac, she-she's GONE!"

Big Mac stared at her in shock, "No..."

It was in that moment, that the two siblings suddenly understood the full weight of the situation. Apple Bloom was gone, and it was their fault. They had driven their little sister away.

Granny Smith however, though shocked, and worried, quickly forced her feelings of dread down. Panicking would only make things worse. They had to take action.

"All right, she can't have gone too far..." the elderly earth pony said, "Ah'll contact th' relatives an' see if anypony's seen her! Big Mac, you search every nook an' cranny of Sweet Apple Acres! An' Applejack, you go an' see if there's any sign o' her in town!"

Everything flew past in a blur as Applejack raced downstairs and out of the farmhouse without even waiting for her brother or grandmother. Her mind raced as feelings of panic, guilt, and worry coursed through her.

But then, as she galloped towards Ponyville as fast as her hooves could carry her, the orange earth pony suddenly had another terrible thought...

Cheerlie had said that NONE of the Crusaders had shown up for school today. If Apple Bloom was gone then... Were Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo missing to? The thought made her run even faster...

* * *

Meanwhile, Rarity had just arrived back at the Carousel Boutique after a morning out shopping for some new fabric, and gems that she needed for a new dress design that she was working on. By now, it was afternoon, and she was eager to get to work.

"Rarity, this is going to be your greatest work yet!", the white unicorn said to herself. "When Sapphire Shores sees this new design, she'll have it put on display in every boutique in Equestria!"

Rarity quickly headed to her "Inspiration Room" to get started on her work. Laying her newly purchased materials on her work table, Rarity first went over to get some thread from one of the cabinet drawers, when suddenly, she stubbed her hoof on something on the floor. Picking up the offending object with her magic, Rarity scowled when she saw what it was.

It was her private diary, the very same private diary full of her personal thought and secrets that Sweetie Belle, and her friends had published in their gossip column on the school newspaper for everypony to read. While Rarity had been understandably furious when she'd found out, she'd initially tried to be somewhat reasonable with her little sister, and explain to her that what she, and her friends were doing was wrong.

However, when the CMC had later gone around trying to find more stories to print, apparently having learned nothing, Rarity had outright given the three fillies the silent treatment when they'd come to the Boutique to try to talk to her.

"I just can't believe that Sweetie Belle!", Rarity grumbled, "She should know better!"

"_That's just it, Rarity..."_, the white unicorn's inner voice said, "_Sweetie Belle is just a little filly. She _doesn't _know any better..." _

The thought made Rarity pause for a moment, but she ultimately shook it away. After getting the thread she needed from the cabinet, she headed back over to the work table to get started on her new design. But as the work commenced, it quickly became obvious that Rarity was having trouble concentrating on the task at hand, for her inner voice was back.

"_How can you be such a hypocrite about all this? Granted that it was indeed wrong of Sweetie Belle to snoop through your diary, and publish it, aren't you forgetting that you also snooped through her backpack so that you could read that stupid article in the first place_?"

It was true; several days ago, Rarity had in fact snooped through Sweetie Belle's backpack to read a copy of the school paper, and couldn't help but laugh at the front page, which showed two young colts with gum stuck to their flanks. Sweetie Belle, however had at first been upset at her big sister's actions.

_"If I remember right, you said that it was "so much fun" to snoop, and you weren't all that sorry about it either."_

"Well, I guess that _doesn't _set a very good example now does it?", Rarity admitted to herself.

But after another brief moment of concience, the white unicorn stubbornly pushed the thoughts away again, and tried concentrate on her sewing. However, her inner voice just wouldn't let up.

_"And after that, wasn't it _you _who told Sweetie Belle that everypony would love the stories in the Gabby Gums column better than anything in the Ponyville Express paper?"_

It was true, Rarity remenbered. She DID tell her little sister that.

_"And after that, I seem to recall that you _enjoyed _reading the Gabby Gums gossip column until _you yourself _were gossiped about..."_

Rarity let out a groan of frustration. What was wrong with her? She hadn't been _that _hard on her little sister, had she?

"Besides...", she told herself, "You've got work to do here. Get moving!"

At last, she finished her sewing, but it had taken her twice as long as usual thanks to her stupid concience. Picking up the partially made dress with her magic, Rarity placed it on one of the mannequins, before heading back to the table to get the gems she needed. But then came the final blow...

_"So let's get this straight. You scolded your little sister for something you shamelessly did yourself, gave her and her friends the idea of writing those stories, then you enjoyed all the hurtful gossip, and wanted to see more of it, but then, when you yourself were gossiped about, you suddenly turned around, and decided that the three little fillies were doing something bad! Tell me Rarity, what do you call that?!"_

The gems fell from Rarity's grasp, and scattered all over the floor as her conscience finally broke through. She just couldn't take it anymore.

"Hypocrisy...", she said at last, holding her head in her hooves, "It was blatant hypocrisy..."

_"Exactly! This whole mess is just as much your responsibility as it is Sweetie Belle's. And yet, you haven't taken any responsibility at all have you? You just dumped it all on your little sister, and didn't even lift a hoof to support her after everypony learned the truth, because apparently, your stupid diary was more important to you than your own family. For shame, Rarity, for shame... What do you think your parents would say about this if they were here right now?" _

Rarity suddenly felt ashamed; her parents had entrusted her to watch over Sweetie Belle, and not only had she set a terrible example for her little sister, but also hadn't been there for her when she'd needed her.

But then, another thought occured to her. "But what about after that?", she asked herself, "After she printed my diary, I gave her a talking to about how hurtful gossip was, but she and her friends just went out to search for more stories to print!"

_"But perhaps you don't have the whole story. Maybe there's more to this than meets the eye. Maybe you should have talked things over with her again, and figured out what was going on instead of just shutting her out."_

Rarity sighed in regret. "Yes... Perhaps I _was_ rather harsh with her..."

_"Well it's good to see that you're finally starting to listen to reason. Now If I were you, I'd go straighten things out with Sweetie Belle before things get any worse!"_

In the end, the white unicorn decided to do what her conscience told her. As enthusiastic as she was about this new dress design, it could wait for a little while. Right now, her little sister needed her more. Heading upstairs to the guest room where Sweetie Belle was staying, Rarity gave the door a few knocks.

"Sweetie Belle, dear...", Rarity called, "Are you in there?"

There was no anwser.

Sighing, Rarity turned the knob with her magic, and opened the door. "Sweetie Belle, I owe you an apology for earlier. The truth of the matter is-"

Rarity stopped in mid-sentence as she turned on the light switch, and found the room empty.

"Sweetie Belle? Where are you?"

For a moment, Rarity was confused, but then she noticed that Sweetie Belle's backpack was gone, and suddenly felt rather foolish.

"Ah. Of course.", Rarity mentally kicked herself, "She's at school."

No matter, Rarity thought, deciding right then and there that she would just go pick Sweetie Belle up when school let out. The sisters could have a heart to heart on the way home. In the meantime, it looked like she'd get to finish her new dress design after all.

But Rarity wouldn't get the chance, for no sooner had she reentered her "Inspiration Room", there came a knock at the front door. A rather rough knock.

"Who could that be?", the white unicorn wondered.

Then, as she headed towards the door to anwser it, the knocking came again, faster this time. In fact, it almost sounded...frantic.

"Coming! I'm coming!", Rarity called, wondering just what the urgency was all about.

But upon opening the door, the white unicorn was shocked to see Applejack standing there, completely out of breath, and looking more distressed than Rarity could ever remember seeing her.

"...R-Ra...Rarity...", the cowpony panted as tears streamed down her face.

"Applejack! Good Heavens!", Rarity exclaimed, "What's wrong?"

"Have-Have ya seen her?", Applejack asked frantically, "Pl-Please, tell me that you've seen her!"

Concerned and confused, Rarity could only ask, "What? Who?"

"Apple Bloom!"

"No, I haven't seen her...", Rarity replied, her concern growing, "Applejack, what's happend?"

Applejack tearfully explained everything to Rarity. How Apple Bloom hadn't been in her room this morning, and Granny Smith had thought she'd left early for school. How Applejack and Big Mac had gone to the Ponyville Schoolhouse during recess to talk to their little sister only to be told that she wasn't there. How they'd checked the Crusader's Clubhouse only to find it empty. And finally, how she discovered that Apple Bloom's favorite things were missing from her room...

Rarity was shocked. "You...You think she..."

"Oh, what did Ah _do_?!", Applejack sobbed, "Ah got mad at mah own little sister fer no good reason, an' drove her away like an unwanted pest! How could Ah be so stupid?!"

"There, there, Applejack.", Rarity assured, placing a hoof on the orange earth pony's shoulder, "I'm sure that we'll find her. Perhaps Sweetie Belle knows something. Did you talk to her when you visited the Schoohouse?"

At the mentioning of Sweetie Belle, Applejack suddenly went rigid, and she slowly looked back up at Rarity, her face swimming with unease. Taken aback by her friend's sudden change in demeanor, Rarity started to get a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach...

"Applejack...?", the white unicorn breathed, "What's wrong...?"

"Rarity...", Applejack said slowly, "Sweetie Belle...wasn't at school either..."

Rarity stared at Applejack, feeling as though she'd just been slapped across the face, and trying to tell herself that she hadn't heard her friend right. But slowly, and surely, the reality of the situation dawned on her.

Sweetie Belle wasn't at school... Hadn't been at the Crusader's Clubhouse... And wasn't in her room... Just like Apple Bloom...

Rarity immediately about-faced, and ran back upstairs to the guest bedroom where Sweetie Belle had been staying without even waiting for Applejack. Upon reaching the bedroom, the white unicorn frantically looked around, and before long, she discovered the exact same thing that her friend had discovered then she'd searched her little sister's room: all of Sweetie Belle's favorite things were gone... Just like Apple Bloom...

And Rarity knew that it could only mean one thing...

Her little sister was missing to... And she had only herself to blame...

"Oh, Sweetie Belle!", Rarity wailed, collapsing to the floor in a sobbing heap, "My one and only sister! What have I done?! Oh, woe is me! My little Sweetie is gone!"

* * *

As Rarity and Applejack were discovering that their sisters had both disappeared, Rainbow Dash was flying through town, and just about to head back to her cloudominium in the sky. She had initially planned on staying home today, but the pegasus ponies had needed her help in getting a storm cloud that was going crazy back under control.

The sky blue pegasus scowled in annoyance, and wondered if Derpy would ever learn to be careful. You'd think she would've learned something after her wrecking of town hall fiasco. But apparently, that had been wishful thinking...

"Hey! Rainbow Dash!", a voice called out.

Turning in the direction of the voice, Rainbow Dash was surprised to see Rainbow Blaze, the pegasus stallion who had taken her under his wing as her "mentor" when she was a filly, flying towards her.

"Rainbow Blaze!", a delighted Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

Rainbow Blaze grinned, "Oh, I was just in the neighborhood, and thought I'd try to catch up with an old buddy of mine."

"Well, it's great to see you.", Rainbow Dash said, glad to see that the interruption of her day off hadn't been a total loss after all.

"Same here.", the pegasus stallion replied, "I heard about that tornado you, and the other pegasus ponies in Ponyville pulled off to save the rainy season."

Rainbow Dash beamed with pride, "Really?"

"I always knew that I'd taught you well." Rainbow Blaze smiled proudly.

"Well...I'm not sure I deserve _all _of the credit...", Rainbow Dash said somewhat bashfully, "We never would've pulled it off without Fluttershy."

"True...", her "mentor" said, "But she may not have been able to pull through without you by her side either."

"Yeah, you're probably right.", Rainbow Dash agreed.

"So what else have you been up to?", Rainbow Blaze asked, "I also saw that you got a story written about you in that newspaper, the Foal Free Press."

Rainbow Dash froze in horror as she was suddenly reminded of that edition of the Foal Free Press that featured her getting a hooficure at the spa on the front page. "What?! You mean you saw that story to?!"

"Well, yeah...", her "mentor" replied.

"Oh, you've _got _to be kidding me!", a mortified Rainbow Dash cried, unable to believe that even her "mentor", her inspiration, saw that embarrassing story of her. "Has my reputation been ruined with _everypony_?!"

"Whoa, take it easy, Dash.", Rainbow Blaze held up his hooves, "I didn't mean anything by-"

"Stop. Please. Just stop, Blaze." Rainbow Dash grumbled, "I don't want to talk about it. And I already gave Gabby Gums a piece of my mind for printing that stupid story!"

"Oh, come on, Dash...", Rainbow Blaze said, "Being in touch with your feminine side every now and again isn't all that bad. Besides, I heard that you once said that you'd love for a story to be printed about you!"

Her "mentor's" words made Rainbow Dash pause as she suddenly remembered that yes, she HAD in fact said that to her friends.

"Well, yeah but... I didn't mean _that_ story!", she groaned, "It makes me look like great, big softy!"

"Be careful what you wish for, Dash.", Rainbow Blaze shrugged, "Cause you just might get it. Isn't that how the old saying goes?"

Ultimately, that left Rainbow Dash stumped, so she tried to steer the conversation in another direction.

"Well, in any case, that'll be the last story of me anypony will ever see.", the sky blue pegasus said. "Like I said, I already taught those responsible for Gabby Gums a lesson they'll never forget!"

"Really?", Rainbow Blaze asked.

"Yeah," Rainbow Dash said rather proudly. "Those three little fillies came by trying to get another story out of me, so I grabbed a raincloud and dumped some rainwater on them."

To her surprise, Rainbow Blaze gasped.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA... You what?!", the shocked pegasus stallion said, "You...you took your anger out on three little fillies?! How could... How could you do that?!"

Rainbow Dash couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Her "mentor", the same one who had always supported her, was now siding with the ones who humiliated her? "But... But Blaze, you saw what they did! They embarrassed me! They ruined my reputation!"

"They're fillies, Dash! They're..._children_!" said Rainbow Blaze, disgusted. "All fillies make mistakes; they don't know any better! And what you did... That...that sounds like something that a BULLY would do!"

Rainbow Dash's mouth fell open. She wanted to argue, but the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "Don't... Don't you think that sounds a little harsh?"

"No. What _you did _was harsh!", her "mentor" scolded, "And I even heard that one of those little fillies practically worships you, just like how you did with me! She must be absolutely crushed right now! I mean, how would you have felt if I'd dumped some rainwater on you for making a simple mistake?"

Rainbow Dash opened her mouth to speak, but ultimately, nothing came out, because Rainbow Blaze was right, and she knew it. She WOULD have been crushed if he'd done something like that to her.

"Exactly!", Rainbow Blaze said, "All I can say is that I hope you're satisfied, because you've probably lost your number one fan as well as you're reputation!" He let out a sigh before continuing. "Maybe some of this is my responsibility to because perhaps... Perhaps I didn't teach you as well as I thought I did, but what _you _did... I know that I never taught you _that_..."

Rainbow Blaze turned to leave, but then turned back for one last thing.

"I just hope that it's not too late for you to make things right, Dash..."

And with that, Rainbow Blaze took off, leaving Rainbow Dash alone with her thoughts.

Stunned, Rainbow Dash just stood there for a moment as she watched her "mentor" leave. At last, the sky blue pegasus began to fly home as well, but as she headed towards her cloudominium in the sky, she began to think back to the events of the previous day. And now, because of what her "mentor" had said, Rainbow Dash began to see the situation in a completely different light.

Remembering how harshly she'd treated the Crusaders yesterday, and over something she'd more or less brought on herself, made Rainbow Dash begin to feel really bad about herself. Rainbow Blaze was right, taking her anger out on three little fillies by dumping rainwater on them _did _sound pretty terrible. The thought of Scootaloo in particular, standing under the raincloud with tears of guilt and heartbreak streaming down her cheeks made the sky blue pegasus feel as though she'd been hit in the gut.

Upon reaching her cloudominium, Rainbow Dash headed up to the front door to let herself in, when suddenly, she stopped. For a long moment, she just stood there in deep thought, until finally, she turned around, and began to fly back in the direction of Ponyville, her conscience drawing her back to town like some giant invisible magnet. The sky blue pegasus wasn't entirely sure what time it was, but she thought that the Ponyville Schoolhouse had probably let out by now, and deep down, she knew that she had to make things right with Scootaloo.

Flying straight to the house where Scootaloo lived with her two aunts, Rainbow Dash landed in front of the door, and gave it a few brisk knocks. But there was no anwser.

"Hello? Holiday? Lofty?", the sky blue pegasus called.

Still no anwser. Rainbow Dash raised her hoof to knock again, when she suddenly happend to look up, and noticed that the window to Scootaloo's room was ajar. Rising back into the air, the sky blue pegasus hesitated for a brief moment, remembering how upset Scootaloo had to be, before flying up to the window, and looking inside the filly's room.

"Scootaloo?", Rainbow Dash called. "It's me, Rainbow Dash."

Receiving no response, the sky blue pegasus sighed, before opening, and climbing through the window.

"I just want to talk, squirt. I'm not gonna dump a raincloud on you again."

Looking around the room, Rainbow Dash couldn't help but feel a small sense of pride as she noticed all of Scootaloo's memorabilia of her. But at the same time, this reminder of just how much Scootaloo looked up to her only made Rainbow Dash feel even worse for how she'd treated the pegasus filly, and her friends.

Rainbow Dash sighed again, as it was obvious that Scootaloo wasn't here. She and her friends were most likely at the Crusaders' clubhouse, so Rainbow Dash decided that she'd head there next. But as the sky blue pegasus turned to leave, something on the nightstand beside Scootaloo's bed caught her eye, and Rainbow Dash was shocked when she saw what it was...

It was the picture of her and Scootaloo when she'd appeared at Sugarcube Corner for the filly's fan club. The entire photo had been scribbled over with marker. And then, Rainbow Dash noticed the letter that had been lying on the nightstand beside the photo. Concerned, she picked it up, and slowly began to read it:

_Dear Mom, Dad, Aunt Holiday, and Auntie Lofty,_

_I can never thank you enough for these 7 years of love you've all given me, and I will always remember them as the best of my life. But now, my friends and I have decided that since we are longer wanted in Ponyville, there's just no way we can stay here anymore. _

_I'm sorry. I really, REALLY am. But this is the only thing left for us to do..._

_Don't bother to come looking for me, because by the time you read this, we'll be far, far, away. But please don't worry. We will be fine, and someday I'll come back to visit you. But for now, this is goodbye. _

_Sincerely,_

_Your loving daughter and niece, Scootaloo._

_P.S._

_If you see Rainbow Dash, please let her know that I'm officially turning in my membership to her fan club, and that she'll never hear from me again. But that's probably what she wants now anyways. _

For a long moment, Rainbow Dash could only stand there, frozen in shock, and soul-crushing guilt as the full realization of just what she had done finally hit her. In her selfish, petty, egotistical anger, she had lost her temper at three innocent little fillies, and driven away Scootaloo, the one filly who'd truly looked up to her and wanted to be like her.

"...Scootaloo... ", she breathed as her eyes welled with tears.

Rainbow Dash didn't remember flying back outside, but the next thing she knew, she was soaring through Ponyville almost fast enough to preform a sonic rainboom. Her mind was racing, and the only thought she was fully able to grasp was that Scootaloo was gone... Because of her...

Rainbow Dash frantically tried to think through her panic. She had to tell the others. She had to find Scootaloo. She had to...

Suddenly, Rainbow Dash stopped in the middle of the air. Someone was calling her name. Turning her head to look in the direction of the call, the sky blue pegasus saw two ponies standing in the middle of the street trying to get her attention. It was Applejack and Rarity. Without really thinking, Rainbow Dash soared down toward them as fast as she could, and came very close to crashing into them. Thankfully, they stepped out of the way at the last moment, causing the sky blue pegasus to come crash landing onto the ground.

"AJ! Rarity!", Rainbow Dash shouted, scrambling back to her feet, "You have to help me! Scootaloo has run away!"

It was only then that Rainbow Dash finally realized that Applejack, and Rairty were both in tears, and on the verge of hysterics.

"We know, Rainbow Dash...", Applejack sniffed.

"Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom are gone to!", Rarity sobbed.

For a long moment, the three distraught mares could only look at one another, until finally, the three of them came together in a tight embrace. But there was little comfort that they could offer one another, for each of them blamed themselves for what happend. All three of them had driven away their little sisters (Or in Rainbow's case, her biggest fan who looked up to her as a sister.).

They had let them down in the worst possible way...

* * *

Featherweight stood on the bridge overlooking the river that ran through Ponyville. School had just let out, and normally, the pegasus colt would be spending this time playing video games with Button Mash, or doing one thing or another with his friends. But right now, he just wanted to be alone.

What had happend that morning in the school basement had been weighing heavily on his mind all day, and no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't stop thinking about it. Troubled, and lost in thought, Featherweight stared down at his reflection in the water below as the incident replayed in his head...

_Earlier that day..._

As Celestia's sun rose over Ponyville, Diamond Tiara, editor in chief of the Foal Free Press, stood in the basement of the Ponyville Schoolhouse, growing more impatient by the second. There was still no sign of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. In fact, nopony had seen them since they'd left yesterday after she'd threatened them to find her a new story.

"That's it. Gabby Gums is out of time." Diamond Tiara said before turning to Shady Daze, and handing him three photos. "Run these instead. I want this paper on every street corner in Ponyville!"

"Yes, ma'am!", said Shady Daze, before heading over to work the printing press.

Once he had finished, Diamond Tiara eagerly trotted over and picked up one of the newly made newspapers to give it a quick preview. Before long, the rich pink earth filly began to laugh.

Printed in the paper were the most embarrassing pictures of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. The first photo was of Scootaloo struggling to get out of the mud as a group of birds gathered to mock her. The second showed a mortified Sweetie Belle wearing what had to be the most ridiculous outfit that made her look like a peacock. Finally, the last picture was of Apple Bloom being shown a picture of her as a foal with a diaper on her head by Granny Smith.

"Oh, this is **gold**!", Diamond Tiara laughed proudly, "I'm actually glad those three didn't show up! This is going to be our juiciest edition yet!"

As Diamond Tiara continued to laugh, she didn't notice Featherweight watching her from the other side of the room with an uncertain look on his face. As staff photographer, he took every picture that appeared in the paper, including those embarassing photos of the CMC, and while he had also laughed to himself earlier when Diamond Tiara had used them to blackmail the CMC into getting her another story, the pegasus colt was now starting to feel very uncomfortable about this.

Yesterday after school, Featherweight had gone around Ponyville, hoping to get a few more photos before heading home, but instead, he found himself following the CMC around as they tried to find a new story for Diamond Tiara. As a result, Featherweight had seen first hoof how everypony in town, angry at the hurtful gossip, had coldly shunned the CMC. And Featherweight had seen just how sad Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo had been when nopony, not even their friends and family, would talk to them.

Maybe things really were going too far...

Diamond Tiara suddenly looked up to see Featherweight coming toward her. "Ah, my loyal staff photographer!", she said, "I really have to thank you, Featherweight. If it weren't for you getting us all these great pictures, I doubt that we'd ever have gotten this far!"

"Uh... Thanks, chief...", Featherweight said uncomfortably at her praise, "Actually... that's kinda want I want to talk to you about... You see, I've been thinking..."

"That's a dangerous pastime...", Diamond Tiara chuckled.

"Yeah... Well, anyways... I was thinking that... Well... The Gabby Gums column has been fun and all, but maybe...maybe we just scrap it, and print something else..."

For a long, tense moment, Diamond Tiara just stared at her staff photographer, and blinked. Then, she suddenly burst into almost hysterical laughter. But her laughter slowly came to a stop as she saw that Featherweight wasn't laughing as well, "You're SERIOUS?!"

Featherweight gulped. "Well, it's just that... I was following the Crusaders around town yesterday, and everypony in town was really mad at them. Maybe they were right, and these stories really are hurting everyponies' feelings. Maybe we really should stop before things get any worse."

Diamond Tiara fixed him with a cold, hard glare. "Something must be wrong with your hearing Feathers, because apparently, you didn't hear what I told the blank flanks yesterday. So let me make myself perfectly clear. I DO NOT give a single flying feather about FEELINGS! And what is it with everypony anyways? If they really hate Gabby Gums, then why did they like the stories so much in the first place?!"

"I don't know, but...", Featherweight shook his head, "But nothing like this ever happend when my sister Namby Pamby was running things..."

"Don't talk to me about Namby Pamby!", Diamond Tiara snapped, "Your sister doesn't run this paper anymore, I do! Miss Cheerlie put me in charge, and what I say goes! And I say that Gabby Gums is the key to our success, so we are sticking with it, and NOPONY is going to change my mind! If ponies didn't want their feelings to get hurt, then they should have thought of that before they let Gabby Gums get so popular!"

"L-look, chief...", Featherweight said hesitantly, "I... I just don't think that..."

"Excuse me?! You're not getting paid to THINK, Featherhead!"

Featherweight blinked. "Um, I'm not getting paid at all..."

"Whatever!", Diamond Tiara snarled, "Just remember this. If it weren't for me, you wouldn't even BE our staff photographer! In fact, you would've been lucky if you were allowed to stay and work on the printing press with Shady Daze! So if I were you, I'd just be grateful, and get back to work!"

Featherweight was frightened, for he knew that he was walking on some _very_ thin ice by getting on Diamond Tiara's bad side. But for a brief moment, he managed to muster up just enough bravery to stand his ground.

"And what if, just out of curiosity, I say no?"

It took all of Featherweight's restraint not to flinch after he'd said that, because he was so sure that Diamond Tiara was about to explode in his face. But to his surpise, she smiled...

"I'm so glad you asked...", the pink earth filly said sweetly before heading over to her desk, and pulling a folder out of one of the drawers, "If you'd just come over here for moment..."

The warning bells in Featherweight's head were ringing like crazy as he walked over to the desk. He had just stood his ground against Diamond Tiara, and she was _smiling_. That was NOT a good sign.

Then, Diamond Tiara took a single photo out of folder, and pushed it towards Featherweight. "Look familiar?", she asked, still smiling.

Featherweight felt his eyes go wide as he stared at the photo. No, it couldn't be. But he could see it with his own eyes, and he did indeed recognize the incident in question...

A few days ago, Featherweight had invited two of his friends, Rumble, and Button Mash over to his house to hang out. The colts had been busy playing a new video game that Button had brought over when Featherweight suddenly had to use the bathroom. But the pegasus colt had been winning the game and didn't want to leave, so he desperately tried to hold it in until it was over. Unfortunately, his bladder hadn't cooperated with him, and by the time the game was over, a puddle had formed where Featherweight was sitting. While his two friends had had a good laugh about it, they'd promised not to tell anypony else.

But somehow, somepony had taken a photograph of that embarrassing moment, the very same photograph that Featherweight was staring at right now. And the very same photograph that Diamond Tiara had in her possession.

"Where did you... How did you...", the mortified pegasus colt stammered.

"Let's just say that you're not the only around here who knows how to use a camera.", Diamond Tiara smirked, "You see, as boss around here, I have to make sure that _all_ of those who work for me stay motivated to do their jobs. I'm sure that we understand each other, no?"

Featherweight's courage crumbled as he realized what she was implying. No, he could NOT let everypony see that picture. He'd be the laughing stock of Ponyville, and he'd never be able to show his face in town again, just like the CMC.

"...Yes, ma'am...", he said at last.

"Now that's a good boy!", Diamond Tiara said, "Now get out there, and get me some more juicy pictures. After all, it would be a shame if we had to use this one for the next Gabby Gums story..."

Dispirited, Featherweight nodded in defeat, and slowly made his way out of the basement as a smug Diamond Tiara looked on.

_Back in the present..._

Thinking back on that moment, Featherweight found that he didn't know what to do. On one hoof, he really didn't want to keep taking hurtful pictures for Diamond Tiara, but at the same time, he knew that if he didn't, he would be the next edition of Gabby Gums. He soon found himself wondering if this how the Crusaders felt yesterday after _they_ had been threatened by Diamond Tiara?

Thinking about the Crusaders made Featherweight feel even worse, for he knew that this whole mess was just as much his fault as it was theirs. While they had been the ones who started the Gabby Gums column, it had been him, as staff photographer, who had taken all of the photos. And not only that, it had been Diamond Tiara, as editor in chief, who had approved all of the stories, and demanded that they get her more when they'd wanted to stop. And yet, it was the Crusaders, and the Crusaders alone who had recieved all of the blame for the hurtful gossip.

The whole town was mad at them, and nopony would even talk to them, not even their friends and family, which was almost certainly the reason why they failed to get Diamond Tiara another story. And now, their most embarrassing moments were about to be passed around town for everypony to see.

"Not fair... It's not fair...", Featherweight muttered.

For a brief moment, he considered maybe telling somepony what was really going on... No! If he blew the whistle on Diamond Tiara, she'd have that picture of him on the streets faster than he could blink, and he'd be lucky if that was the ONLY thing she did. And besides, he had seen how the angry townsponies had treated the CMC for the Gabby Gums gossip. What would they do if they found out that he was the one who had taken all of those embarassing photographs?

"Oh, what am I supposed to do?", Featherweight moaned. He wanted to do something. He did. But he was afraid. Afraid of what would happen if he told the truth...

* * *

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash raced as fast as they could towards the Golden Oak Library, when suddenly, Rainbow Dash, who was in the lead, flew right smack into the force field that Twilight Sparkle had put up around her home to keep the CMC out.

"Ow! Hey! What gives?!", the sky blue pegasus exclaimed, rubbing her head.

Running right past their friend, Applejack, and Rarity knocked frantically on the force field.

"Twilight!", Applejack hollered, "Open up!"

"Twilight! Help! Twilight!", Rarity screamed.

Suddenly, the front door to the library flew open, and Spike stormed out with an angry look on his face, and brandishing a broom.

"I thought I told you to get...!"

Spike stopped in mid-sentence, and looked again.

"Spike!", Rainbow Dash yelled, "Get Twilight!"

"I-I'm sorry, I thought you were...", the baby dragon started to say, before turning back into the library and calling, "Twilight, it's Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash!"

After a what felt like a very long moment to the three ponies standing outside, the force field was finally lowered, and they ran as fast as they could towards the open doorway...with Spike still standing in it...

Meanwhile, inside the library, Twilight Sparkle found herself smiling as she made her way downstairs. The lavender unicorn had not been in the best of moods ever since Gabby Gums had written that article about her being another Canterlot snob. For awhile, she'd just wanted some time alone, and had tried to keep busy in an effort to take her mind off of it. But now, she felt that some welcome company may do her some good. Besides, she knew that she could trust three of her closest friends.

But as she reached the first floor of the library, Twilight's newfound joy quickly turned to shock as her friends suddenly burst through the doorway in a complete panic, bowling Spike over in the process!

"Sweet Celestia, girls!", Twilight exclaimed, "What in the wide, wide world of..."

However, Twilight quickly trailed off as she took one look at her friends, and her shock at their explosive entrance was almost instantly replaced with genuine concern. Applejack, and Rarity were absolutely hysterical, crying uncontrollably, and hyperventilating. And Rainbow Dash, one of the toughest ponies she knew, looked like she was dangerously close to bursting into tears herself. Twilight was so stunned that she had no idea what to say. The only thing she knew in that moment, was that something had to be _very _wrong...

Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash all started talking at once. But between Applejack and Rarity's sobbing, and all three ponies frantically talking over one another, it was almost impossible to make out what was being said.

"Girls, slow down!", Twilight cried, "One at a time!"

It took some effort, but after a few moments, Applejack, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash managed to calm down just enough to speak coherently.

"It's... It's Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo...", Applejack tearfully said,

"They've run away from home!", Rarity sniffed.

"They've WHAT?!", Twilight gasped in shock. "But are...Are you sure..?"

"Yes! We can't find them anywhere!", Applejack sobbed.

"It's true, Twilight...", Rainbow Dash choked out, "I...I went to Scootaloo's house earlier, and...and I found a goodbye letter that she left for her family... They're...They're really gone..."

Twilight couldn't believe it, and for the second time in only a few moments, she was too stunned to speak.

"Oh, wherever could they be?!", Rarity wailed, "What ever shall we do?!"

Rarity and Applejack collapsed to the floor in tears of despair, and finally, even Rainbow Dash, who had been trying to put on a brave face in front of her friends until now, began to cry.

For a moment, Twilight exchanged a grave look with Spike, as both of them felt a combination of great concern for their friends, and intense guilt as they remembered how they'd treated the CMC the day before.

At last, Twilight let out a heavy sigh, and stepped forward to try, and calm everypony down.

"Please, everypony calm down. We'll find them...", the lavender unicorn assured, "But first, we need to let the others know what's happend. Spike and I will head over to Sugarcube Corner to get Pinkie Pie. Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, you two head over to Fluttershy's cottage, and get her. And Applejack, you should probably bring Big Mac, and Granny Smith here to."

Everypony nodded, and promptly split up to get the others.

* * *

In the middle of a nearby forest, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were resting underneath the shade of the trees.

They had walked for most of the previous night, trying to get as far as they could while following a trail that Apple Bloom knew from when Applejack had taken her hiking near Winsome Falls. However, it hadn't been as easy as they'd thought it would be in the dark, and they hadn't made very good time. Eventually, as dawn approached, they'd come to an area that looked like a good place to rest, and they decided to stop there for a while.

At first, the three fillies tried to take their mind off of the situation by pretending that this was just like a camping trip, but ultimately, they knew that it was useless. They couldn't kid themselves. This was no camping trip, because they wouldn't be going back. They hadn't spoken much about their predicament since they'd left town; there was really no point, as there wasn't anything else to say that hadn't already been said.

Instead, the three of them had mostly just taken turns sleeping. When they were asleep, they didn't have to think about what had happend, or what they were going to do. But eventually, they knew that they couldn't rest forever, and that they had to keep moving. At last, the three fillies got up, and gathered their things.

"Ya'll ready ta get movin' again?", Apple Bloom asked glumly.

"I guess...", Sweetie Belle sighed.

Scootaloo nodded sadly, "Yeah..."

Without another word, the three of them fell back into step, and began to head further into the forest. Once again, Apple Bloom led the way, but she didn't know for how much longer she'd actually know where they were going. However, there was a part of her that wondered how much that actually mattered, as long as they weren't heading back to Ponyville.

For awhile, the three fillies again traveled without really talking. But now, it felt as if the shadow that had been hanging over them since the previous day was growing bigger, and the silence was gradually growing more and more deafening.

At last, Scootaloo stopped walking, and despondently sat down in the dirt with tears welling in her eyes. "This stinks..."

Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom stopped in their tracks, and turned back toward their friend.

"Scootaloo?", Sweetie Belle asked.

"Why did we ever play Diamond Tiara's game?", the pegasus filly asked.

For a long moment, neither Sweetie Belle nor Apple Bloom said anything, for all three of them had been dreading a moment like this, a moment where they would face the reality of their situation. In fact, it was only now that they realized that that had been the real reason they hadn't talked much since they'd left town, so that they wouldn't have to. Scootaloo, however, just couldn't keep it bottled up inside anymore, and at last, Sweetie Belle, & Apple Bloom walked up to their friend, and sat next to her.

"Ah' don't know...", Apple Bloom said, swallowing hard as she fought back tears, "Ah guess we just didn't have th' nerve ta stand up ta her."

"And because we thought that getting our cutie marks was worth a little grief.", a somber Sweetie Belle added.

Scootaloo nodded bitterly, "Boy, were we stupid. No cutie mark is worth this. Right now, I'd give up ever getting my cutie mark if things could just go back to the way they were..."

"So would Ah'.", Apple Bloom agreed.

Sweetie Belle hung her head, "Me to...".

The unicorn filly paused as she suddenly remembered how Scootaloo had considered not even joining the Foal Free Press at first when they'd learned that Diamond Tiara was in charge.

"You were right from the start, Scootaloo...", Sweetie Belle sniffed, "It would've been better if we'd never joined the school newspaper. None of this would've happend... And we wouldn't have had to leave..."

"Yeah...", Apple Bloom said, her eyes downcast, "But we did. We messed up, an' it's too late now... W-We can n-never go back..."

Apple Bloom's voice trailed off as the lump in her throat got tighter, and she knew that both Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were feeling the same thing. For a long moment, the fillies just looked at one another, until at last, all three of them finally gave in to their pain, and let the tears come, throwing their hooves around one another in a tight embrace as their little bodies were wracked with heavy sobs. Ever since they'd left town, they'd tried to keep their emotions in check, but they just couldn't do it anymore. It just hurt too much.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo cried for awhile, and by the time they finally stopped, their eyes were bloodshot, their throats hurt, and the ground beneath them was wet with their tears. At last, the three fillies broke the embrace, and sat back, sniffling and wiping their eyes.

"C-Come on, g-girls...", the Apple Bloom said shakily, "W-We h-have ta keep m-moving..."

Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo nodded, and the three fillies stood back up to continue their trek through the forest...

But they had only taken a few steps when Apple Bloom suddenly stopped in her tracks, and looked around at their surroundings, a sense of dread forming in the pit of her stomach as she suddenly realized that she had no idea where they were.

"W-What's wrong?", Sweetie Belle asked.

"Ah'... Ah' think... we might be lost...", Apple Bloom said at last.

Scootaloo began to look around. "What..."

It was then, as the three fillies fully took in their surroundings that they slowly realized where they were, and that at some point, probably while they'd been traveling in the dark, they must have taken a wrong trail and crossed over into the dark, and scary Everfree Forest.

* * *

END OF PART ONE.


	2. Runaway Crusaders Part 2

Back in Ponyville, everypony had gathered inside the Golden Oak Library to discuss what should be done about the missing Cutie Mark Crusaders.

Twilight, and Spike had gotten Pinkie Pie to come along with almost no difficulty. After having that story printed about her being an out of control party animal, the pink earth pony hadn't really felt like talking to anypony. However, once she'd learned that the Crusaders had run away, Pinkie could hardly be restrained.

Upon arriving back at the library, Twilight, Pinkie Pie, and Spike found Applejack, Big Mac, and Granny Smith already waiting for them.

On the other hoof, it had taken some time for Rarity, and Rainbow Dash to get Fluttershy to come out of her cottage, as she'd been bawling her eyes out ever since she'd had that story printed of her having tail extensions. But after some consoling from Rarity, and some rather forceful "coaxing" from Rainbow Dash, the yellow pegasus finally calmed down, and agreed to come once she'd heard about the Crusaders being missing.

"Alright.", Twilight said once everypony was present, "Just to be sure, are you absolutely certain that you've looked everywhere?"

"Yes!", Applejack nodded miserably, "Big Mac searched every square inch o' Sweet Apple Acres, an' found nothin'! Granny Smith even contacted all th' relatives, an' none of 'em have seen Apple Bloom anywhere!"

"They never even went to school today.", Rarity cried, "And they weren't even at their clubhouse!"

"What about Scootaloo's aunts Holiday, and Lofty?", Twilight asked, turning toward Rainbow Dash, "Do they know anything about this?"

"They weren't at home either, Twilight...", Rainbow Dash said, "They're probably out frantically searching for Scootaloo themselves..." The sky blue pegasus suddenly trailed off, as her own words made her think about how worried Scootaloo's family had to be. Then, to the surprise of her friends, Rainbow Dash let out a loud groan of self-loathing, and burst out, "Oh, this is all my fault! They ran away because of me!"

"What... What are you talking about, Rainbow Dash?" asked Twilight.

"Yesterday...", the sky blue pegasus confessed, "The Crusaders approached me to ask for another story, so I got a raincloud and dumped rainwater all over them without even giving them a chance to explain..."

"What?", Fluttershy gasped in shock, "That was...that was so mean! Why would you do such a thing?"

"I don't know!", moaned Rainbow Dash. "I...I was just so mad that I... I didn't even realize that I brought this on myself for asking for a story in the first place!"

"Don't take all the credit, Dashie...", Rarity said sadly, "First, I set a terrible example for my little sister by shamelessly snooping through her bag, then I scold her for something that I gave her the idea for, and fully supported until the joke was on me. How could I be such a hypocrite?"

"It's mah fault to, Rarity..." sighed Big Mac, his eyes downcast. "They came by yesterday afternoon ta try an' reason with me an' Applejack, but she just outright refused ta talk ta them, an' I yelled at them ta go away."

"I yelled at them too...", Spike said regretfully, "And Twilight..."

The little dragon hesitated and looked up at Twilight, who bowed her head in remorse when she recalled how she'd shut out the CMC by putting up that force field.

"I didn't want to talk to them either...", the lavender unicorn sighed. "So I... I put up that forcefield around the library in order to keep them out..." The stunned silence that followed Twilight's confession only served to make her feel worse. "Stupid... It was so stupid..."

"It was stupid of me not to talk to them to...", said Fluttershy, sadly, "If only I'd stopped crying, and not let Angel slam the door in their faces..."

"We were all a bunch of big fat meanies..." sniffed Pinkie Pie, her hair beginning to deflate as she recalled how she and the Cakes had ignored the CMC yesterday when they'd knocked on the door of Sugarcube Corner.

From across the room, Granny Smith let out an audible sigh, causing everypony to look over at her.

"What y'all did was wrong, an' especially uncalled fer in Rainbow Dash, an' Twilight's cases.", the elderly earth pony said sternly, "But what's done is done. Right now, th' important thing is that we find 'em before somethin' bad happens!"

"Granny's right!", Applejack agreed, "We gotta tell everypony in Ponyville about what's goin' on, an' get the whole town out lookin' for 'em!"

"All right.", Twilight said, "We'll need to go to town hall to inform Mayor Mare of what's happened, and have her call for an emergency town meeting. Once we tell everypony what's going on, we'll put together a search party."

With their next move now clear to them, the ponies all rushed out of library, and headed in the direction of town hall, hoping against hope that the three fillies would be found before it was too late.

* * *

Once the situation had been fully explained to her, Mayor Mare was just as shocked as Twilight had been to hear that the CMC were missing. Despite having also been a target of the Gabby Gums gossip, the Mayor simply couldn't bear the thought of those three little fillies being lost out there somewhere, and had immediately agreed to help. She had then promptly set about putting the emergency town meeting together, and before long, the majority of the ponies in town had been gathered at town hall.

Calling the town meeting to order, Mayor Mare then called Twilight to the podium, deciding to let her explain to the townsponies about what was going on. The lavender unicorn had quickly gotten straight to the point: the Cutie Mark Crusaders had run away from home, and they needed everyponies' help to put together a search party in order to find the three missing fillies.

However, as soon as Twilight had finished, the entire crowd of ponies almost immediately began to grumble with confused, and indifferent looks on their faces at what they'd just been told.

"And just why should we care if those three are gone?", Cherry Berry asked. "I'd say that they've caused us enough trouble already!"

"Yeah! That's right! Why should we care?!", the crowd of ponies yelled.

"What?!", a shocked Twilight exclaimed.

"How can you say that?!", Rarity gasped, "This is an emergency! We've got to find them!"

Caramel snorted, "Why should we? After everything they've done to us?"

"Yeah!", Berry Punch added, "After those little brats exposed our personal secrets, and wrote those degusting stories about us, I say good riddance!"

As the rest of the crowd angrily voiced their agreement about what the CMC had done, an outraged Mayor Mare decided that she'd had enough of this, and began to step forward again with a full intention of putting an end to it, when suddenly, Granny Smith furiously pushed past both her, and Twilight to take her place at the podium.

"Ah' can't believe what Ah'm hearin'!", the elderly earth pony scolded, "Y'all should be ashamed of yerselves! Passin' judgement on three little fillies for somethin' as ridiculous as a gossip column! An' ya want ta know somethin' else? Ah' heard that y'all loved Gabby Gums, an' wanted ta see more of their stories despite th' fact that y'all knew that they were spreadin' hurtful gossip!"

"Exactly!", Twilight said, taking her place next to Granny Smith, "I knew that liking Gabby Gums was a bad idea from the start, but did anypony listen to me? Noooo... Everypony said that I was full of it, and that I needed to lighten up. Nopony would listen until the joke was on them!"

Then, Mayor Mare stepped forward to stand on the other side of Granny Smith, "Granny Smith, and Twilight are right! The whole reason Gabby Gums even got this far in the first place was because of how popular it was with everypony in town! It wasn't until you yourselves were gossiped about that you all suddenly realized how bad it was! And even then, instead of actually doing something about it, all anypony did was shut themselves away, or verbal and physically abuse those involved! Why I have never seen such hypocrisy in my life!"

The crowd was stunned, and for a long moment they struggled to come up with a response. Finally, Carrot Top stepped forward.

"But Mayor Mare, weren't you and Twilight also gossiped about?", she asked, "I mean, they wrote that story about your mane actually being pink instead of gray, and that story about Twilight being a Canterlot snob. Why aren't the two of you mad at them?"

Twilight and Mayor Mare exchanged a look of guilt before turning back to the crowd, their eyes downcast. "We were...", Twilight admitted, "And we are ashamed to admit that we also shunned the Crusaders instead of just talking with them like we should have. However, we have since realized our mistake, and are now trying to make up for it, which is certainly more than can be said about all of you!"

"Ya know...", Granny Smith said, "When Ah' first helped in th' foundin' of Ponyville, it was one of th' proudest moments of mah life! But Ah' never thought Ah'd see th' day that this town drove away three little fillies for makin' a simple mistake. An' now, thanks ta y'all, mah little granddaughter, an' her friends are somewhere out there sufferin'. An' why? Because y'all only seem ta care 'bout yerselves an' yer own feelin's!"

As Granny Smith, Twilight, and Mayor Mare's words sunk in, the whole crowd slowly, but surely began to hang their heads in shame, for they'd finally realized that everything that they'd said was the truth. However, it was the words of Granny Smith that has hit everypony the hardest. As one of the founders of the town, she was very well respected amongst the townsponies, and the fact that one of the fillies who'd run away because of their treatment was her GRANDAUGHTER only made it worse.

It was then that Mr. Cake, and Amethyst Star came forward.

"Granny Smith is right...", Mr. Cake said sadly, "Our behavior has been absolutely disgusting. Just what kind of monsters have we become?"

Amethyst Star looked imploringly at those onstage, "You've made us so ashamed of what we've done. What can we do? How can we make up for it?"

The entire crowd began to speak at once, voicing their regrets, and their desires to make things right.

"We need to find the Crusaders, and bring them home.", Mayor Mare said, "Once we've found them, we'll straighten this whole Gabby Gums problem out, and then put this entire thing behind us. However, we'll need everypony's help to get this done..."

"Never fear, Miss Mayor!", Pinkie Pie suddenly jumped in between Mayor Mare and Twilight, while wearing a detective's hat, and holding a magnifying glass. "Private Eye Pinkie Pie is on the job!"

"In any case...", Twilight said, rolling her eyes at Pinkie's antics, "We'll search in teams because we have a lot of ground to cover. Applejack, and Big Mac's team will cover uptown. Rarity, and Pinkie Pie's team will take downtown. Spike and I will lead the team that will search the outskirts. And the last team will follow Rainbow

Dash, and Fluttershy to search the surrounding areas. Any questions?"

After a long moment of silence, Derpy Hooves raised her hoof, and asked, "Can I be on Rainbow Dash's team?"

"Yes, Derpy...", sighed an exasperated Rainbow Dash, "You can be on my team."

"Yeah! WOO HOO!", Derpy shouted.

"All right, enough foolin' around!", Applejack asserted, "Mah little sis, an' her friends are lost out there somewhere, an' we gotta find 'em before somethin' awful happens to 'em! So let's get to it!"

The entire crowd yelled out in agreement, and with that, everypony rushed out to begin the search.

* * *

But as the crowd of ponies headed out, nopony noticed a certain young pegasus colt who had been watching everything that had been transpiring from behind a nearby building. Featherweight had been making his way home when Mayor Mare had called for the emergency town meeting, and before long, a large number of townsponies had started heading in the direction of town hall.

The pegasus colt wasn't exactly sure just what had made him follow the crowd. Perhaps he'd just been curious, or perhaps, something deep down inside had just told him that the subject of the town meeting had something to do with the CMC or the Gabby Gums column. But whatever the case, Twilight Sparkle's announcement that the CMC had run away from home had shocked Featherweight to his very core.

Even after the crowd of ponies had left, Featherweight had remained rooted to the spot for a very long moment as his mind struggled to process what he'd just heard. The CMC were gone... They'd run away from home because of all the flak that they'd received from the town for the Gabby Gums gossip... And probably also because they were afraid of what would happen when those embarrassing pictures of them were printed in the next edition of the paper...

And as the reality of that fact fully sank in, Featherweight felt his body go numb as another realization washed over him.

It had been HE, Featherweight himself, who had taken those pictures, which in turn was what had allowed Diamond Tiara to blackmail them into getting her more stories when they had tried to stop before things could get worse... And things HAD gotten worse. Much worse than Featherweight had ever imagined.

And as much as the pegasus colt tried to tell himself that it had been Diamond Tiara who had refused to stop the hurtful gossip, that it was HER who had blackmailed the CMC into continuing, and that SHE was the one who'd printed those embarrassing photos in the next edition of their paper, Featherweight knew in his young heart that she'd only been able to do all of that, because HE had taken those pictures of the CMC in the first place. Just as he had taken ALL of the embarrassing, and hurtful pictures.

This was his fault; it was just as much his fault as it was Diamond Tiara's. Just like how this whole Gabby Gums mess was just as much his fault as the CMC's. And yet, it had been the CMC, and the CMC alone who'd paid the price. And now... they were gone...

Featherweight's eyes flooded with tears, and all he could say was, "What have I done?"

* * *

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo had been wandering about for hours in the Everfree Forest, trying to find a way out. But by now, they were well, and truly lost.

"We're going in circles!", Sweetie Belle said, pointing her hoof at a fallen mossy log that lay at the bottom of a small bank off the side of the beaten path they were on. "I've seen that same log five times!"

"That's not th' same log...", Apple Bloom insisted, but she was clearly trying to convince herself just as much as her friend.

"It is, Apple Bloom! Open your eyes!", Scootaloo cried.

"It's not th' same...", Apple Bloom started to say again, before finally cracking under the pressure, "Oh, who am Ah' kiddin'?! It IS th' same log!"

Disheartened at her failed efforts, the yellow earth filly could only plop her flank down on the ground, and bury her face in her hooves in despair. "Oh, it's no use! Ah'm so sorry, girls. Ah' don't know where we are, or where we ain't! An' Ah haven't known fer hours!"

"You did your best, Apple Bloom...", Sweetie Belle said, trying to reassure her friend, "That's all you could do."

Scootaloo nodded glumly, "Yeah. If it makes you feel any better, I haven't known where we've been or where we haven't been ever since we left town."

"Well, what're we gonna do now?", Apple Bloom asked miserably, "It's already almost sundown, an' we're gonna be stuck in this spooky forest all night!"

For a moment, the three fillies just stood there, lost in thought. But then, Sweetie Belle suddenly looked up, cocking her head at a distance sound coming from somewhere down the path. It sounded like...

Some kind of loud, and very heavy hoofsteps...

"I... I think we should get off the path...", the unicorn filly said uneasily.

"What? Why?", Scootaloo asked.

Sweetie Belle froze; there it was again, and distinctly more clear this time. The sound of massive steps crashing through the underbrush, like something big was moving through the forest, and the sound was getting louder. Whatever it was, it was getting closer, coming straight towards them...

"Get off the path! Quick!" Sweetie Belle cried, as she all but shoved her friends off the beaten path, away from whatever was coming.

The next few moments were a panicked blur for the three little fillies as they scrambled down the small bank, and took cover underneath the fallen mossy log. For a long moment they just sat there, huddled together, and listening intently, but they could hear nothing but an eerie silence.

But then, the massive footfalls came again, and once again, they were getting closer. Not only that, but this time, the three fillies could also hear what sounded like a deep, low growling...

"Wha-What is it?", Scootaloo squeaked, prompting Apple Bloom to put her hoof over the pegasus filly's mouth to keep her quiet.

Then, to the horror of the three fillies, the massive footfalls came to a stop right behind the very log that they were hiding under. Then, the Crusaders noticed that there was also a rather bad odor in air. It reminded them about that story Granny Smith had told them, and their class on Family Appreciation Day, namely about her encounter with the Timberwolves, and how you could tell when they were near due to how bad their breath smelled...

A Timberwolf...

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, & Scootaloo could only freeze up in complete, and utter terror as the realization washed over them. It was a TIMBERWOLF. And it was standing DIRECTLY ABOVE THEM. Then, the sound of the huge creature's sniffing filled the air. It was sniffing for _them_.

The three terrified fillies huddled closer, trembling uncontrollably, and desperately trying not to make a sound.

_Please, please, please don't see us_, they silently prayed,_ Don't find us. We're not here..._

Then, after several long, nerve-wracking moments, the Timberwolf's sniffing stopped, and it's massive footsteps began again, gradually sounding more and more distant. It was moving away from them...

At last, the creature's footsteps faded away into the forest, and all was silent again. It was gone. And they were safe.

An almost overwhelming sense of relief washed over the three fillies. As Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom let out shuddering breaths they hadn't even realized they'd been holding, Scootaloo began to cry. She'd been so scared...

At last, Sweetie Belle found her voice, "G-Girls... Are-Are you okay?"

"Y-Yeah...", Apple Bloom managed to reply, "A-Ah think s-so..."

"S-Scootaloo?", Sweetie Belle asked.

The pegasus filly only nodded tearfully.

Once they'd taken some time to collect themselves, Apple Bloom got back to her hooves, and said, "C'mon, girls. We can't stay here."

Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn't argue. They knew that they had to find somewhere safe. Or somewhere as safe as could be in the Everfree Forest. And as the Crusaders set out again, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, & Scootaloo began to wonder, not for the first time, if this whole venture had indeed been the best idea...

* * *

The search for the Crusaders had begun in earnest as soon as the search teams were formed, and before long, nearly everypony in Ponyville was scouring the town, and beyond. They left no stone unturned, called out the names of the missing fillies, and even put up missing posters.

But after several hours of hard, non-stop searching, Celestia's sun was beginning to set, and darkness was rapidly falling, so the decision was made to regroup back at town hall for a full status report. Unfortunately, it quickly became clear that everypony had returned empty hooved.

They had turned over every spot in Ponyville, and the surrounding areas, but there was no sign of the Crusaders anywhere.

Didn't anypony find ANYTHING?", Rarity asked.

"Not a sign of them, Rarity.", said Shoeshine, "The uptown, and downtown teams turned all of Ponyville upside down, and found nothing."

"Yeah...", confirmed Pinkie Pie, who was still wearing her detective garb, "Maybe we should've turned all of Ponyville sideways instead..."

"What about yer team, Twilight?", Big Mac asked, turning toward the lavender unicorn.

Twilight shook her head. "Nada. There was no sign of them on the outskirts of town."

"And what about you guys?", Spike asked, looking toward Rainbow Dash, and Fluttershy, who'd been in charge of the team searching the surrounding areas.

"We came up zip to.", a glum Rainbow Dash said.

Fluttershy nodded sadly. "We even went to look at Mount Dragonshy. Nothing."

"Well then, we're just gonna have to look harder!", Applejack declared, "We gotta double our efforts!"

"Applejack...", an exhausted Lemon Hearts groaned, "We've been at this for hours! And the sun is setting as we speak! I think maybe we oughta call it a night!"

"What are you saying?!", Rarity exclaimed, "Our little sisters are still out there somewhere!"

"We understand that, Rarity.", Bon Bon said sympathetically, "But what else can we do? We've looked everywhere!"

"Obviously we haven't! Because we haven't found them yet!", Rainbow Dash retorted.

"Come on, Rainbow Dash! We want to find them as much as you do, but everypony is exhausted!", Lyra protested.

"_Yer_ exhausted?!", Applejack exclaimed, "How do ya think me, an' Big Mac feel? We've been searchin' fer twice as long as any of ya'll!"

"We know, we _know_...", Mrs. Cake conceded, "But think about the children! I want to help. We all do. But my twins need to be taken care of to!"

Millie nodded, "Just give us a little time to get our acts together, and we'll pick back up where we left off tomorrow."

"No! It's because of all of us that mah little sis an' her friends are gone." Applejack snapped, sounding increasingly aggressive, "And it's everypony's responsibility ta find 'em! So nopony sleeps 'til they're home safe n' sound!"

"Slow down, Applejack!", a concerned Twilight stepped in.

"Slow down? _Slow down_?!", Applejack cried, "Apple Bloom is out there somewhere! She could be lost, cold, hungry, itchy, stuffed up, an' needin' ta go ta th' bathroom! She can't survive out there in th' cold, cruel world!"

Now, Twilight was really getting concerned. As much as she herself wanted to continue the search, she couldn't deny that the other ponies had a point. And the lavender unicorn was starting to fear that Applejack, between her worry about her sister, her mounting desperation in the search, and lack of sleep, was starting to lose her mind.

"AJ, calm down!", Twilight said more forcefully, before continuing in a gentler tone, "I know you're worried. We're all worried. But we're getting nowhere fast. Maybe we should take some time to regroup, and reevaluate the situation."

Then, Mayor Mare came forward, and placed a hoof on Applejack's shoulder, "Twilight's right, Applejack. Maybe we should change our tactics. Let me contact some associates out of town. Maybe somepony can help us. But in the meantime, you should really try to get some rest. There's nothing more you can do tonight, and you won't do Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, or Scootaloo any good if you collapse."

For a long moment, Applejack just stood there pondering what Twilight, and Mayor Mare had said, as their words seemed to have finally struck a cord with her. At last, the cowpony took a deep breath, and slowly nodded.

"Okay... Yer right... Ah'm sorry...", the orange earth pony said wearily, as the townsponies all nodded in understanding, and sympathy.

"It's all right...", Mayor Mare assured, before turning to address the crowd, "Okay, everypony who wishes to go home for the time being may do so. We will meet back here in the morning to discuss our next move..."

* * *

On the first floor of the Golden Oak Library, Twilight was pacing back and forth. After Mayor Mare had dismissed the search party for the night, the lavender unicorn, and her friends had headed back to the library to rest, and regroup. By now, night had completely fallen on Ponyville, and despite Applejack's previous determination, she was completely exhausted from searching all day, so Spike, Big Mac, and Granny Smith had taken the cowpony upstairs to try to get some sleep.

Twilight had offered the same opportunity to Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, but they found that they simply had too much on their minds to even try and get any rest. Ultimately, the lavender unicorn couldn't really blame them, as she was just as worried, and frustrated at the whole situation as everypony else. Not only had they not found any sign of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but nopony had turned up a single clue, or even the whiff of lead. To put it simply, the search party wasn't getting them anywhere. Anywhere at all...

"This whole thing has got me baffled!", Twilight said, "We've searched everywhere we could think of, and what do we find? A lot of nothing! Just what are we overlooking?"

Fluttershy only shook her head, "It's beats me to, Twilight. Where ever could those poor little fillies be?"

"Wait! I think I've got it!", Pinkie Pie (or Private Eye Pinkie Pie) suddenly declared.

"What?", Twilight, and Fluttershy both said at once.

"The greatest detective who ever lived once said...", Pinkie began, "...that 'once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, no matter how improbable, must be the truth.'"

"So what you're saying is...?", Twilight inquired.

"We haven't been able to find the Crusaders anywhere, so therefore, they must have turned themselves invisible! Maybe they're here in this room right now!"

After a moment of blankly staring at Pinkie Pie, the only thing Fluttershy could do was facehoof, and the only thing Twilight could say, in a completely deadpan voice was, "That's not helping, Pinkie..."

Suddenly, a low groan of frustration caught Twilight, Fluttershy, & Pinkie's attention, and they turned to see a distraught Rainbow Dash sitting at the bottom of the stairs. The sky blue pegasus was holding a photograph in her hoof, the same photograph that Rainbow Dash had found in Scootaloo's bedroom, the one of her, and the pegasus filly at Sugarcube Corner. Rainbow Dash was busy trying to rub off the marker that had been scribbled over the photo, but it was no easy task as marker didn't come off easily.

Twilight walked up to her friend, "Rainbow, are you all right? Do you want some help?"

"No, I'm not all right, Twilight!", the sky blue pegasus said angrily, "And if I wanted some help, I would've ASKED for it!"

Twilight flinched, and even backed up a step at her friend's anger. But upon seeing this, Rainbow Dash immediately felt bad about it, and forced herself to calm down.

"I...I'm sorry, Twilight. I-I didn't mean to snap at you. It's just that... Scootaloo..."

"It's okay, Rainbow.", Twilight assured her, "I know you're worried, and I know that you're mad at yourself. I am to..."

Rainbow Dash nodded miserably. She was about to say something else, when the sound of someone else's sniffling caused her to stop.

Turning to look, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy, and Pinkie saw Rarity sitting at one of Twilight's desks. The despondent white unicorn was busy writing in her diary, the very same diary that she'd scolded Sweetie Belle over for publishing in the gossip column.

"Dear diary...", Rarity read aloud as she wrote, "My sister is still missing, and I just can't stop thinking about how this is my fault because of my own selfish actions. I miss her so much, and I don't...know..."

The white unicorn trailed off as she found herself unable to finish, and she broke down in tears as she laid her head down on the desk.

Twilight headed over to where Rarity was sitting, and placed her hoof on her friend's shoulder. "Rarity..."

"Please, Twilight...", the white unicorn breathed, "I just can't talk right now..."

Twilight helplessly lowered her gaze until she was staring at the floor. Rarity was right; what else could she say that hadn't already been said? She'd already promised her friends that they would find the Crusaders, but that promise had yet to be fulfilled.

Twilight knew how much Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack blamed themselves for this, but the hard truth was, they were all responsible in some way or another, and that train of thought made Twilight once again think about her own actions towards the CMC. Why hadn't she just let them in, and let them explain themselves? Why hadn't she just talked to them? If only she had, and they might still be here...

"Oh, girls...", the lavender unicorn thought, "Where are you? Where have you gone..?"

* * *

Meanwhile, deep inside the Everfree Forest, after aimlessly stumbling around for what had felt like an eternity, the Cutie Mark Crusaders finally happened upon a small cave, or more accurately, a shallow recess situated inside of a small rock face. With no better options, it was as good a place as any to take shelter.

Apple Bloom pulled out her foal blanket, having brought it along with her, and the three fillies wrapped themselves in it in order to keep warm. As they huddled together inside of their makeshift shelter, the Crusaders ultimately decided that they should probably just stay where they were until...

Until what?

Until something to improve their situation just happened to turn up? Until somepony else just happened to find them? Who would ever think to look for them out here? And more to the point, who would even WANT to look for them after all that had happend?

It was hopeless. They were trapped inside the Everfree Forest, and they were on their own...

Suddenly, the three fillies looked up in alarm as they heard a rustling sound off in the distance, and frantically looked around for the source.

"Look there!", Apple Bloom gasped, pointing at something moving off in the distance.

However, three fillies quickly relaxed when the moonlight revealed it to be just a group of branches moving in the wind.

But then, Sweetie Belle sat straight back up in alarm, and pointed at something else. "What's that?!"

For a moment, the fillies froze in terror as they saw something big standing off in the darkness, and for a moment, they feared that the Timberwolf from earlier had returned. But then, the moonlight revealed it to be only a fallen, strangely-shaped log resting on a pile of rocks.

They were safe; it was just their imagination playing tricks on them.

Letting out a collective sigh of relief, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo tried to settle back down, but ultimately realized that they didn't feel any better about their situation.

"I wanna go home...", Scootaloo said.

"We can never go home, Scoot.", Apple Bloom replied, "Even if we found a way outta here, ya know that we ain't wanted in town no more."

Scootaloo nodded sadly, and shivered a little, "I know... I just... I just miss home, and my safe, warm bed..."

Sweetie Belle looked down at her unicorn filly doll, which she now held in her hooves, and it made her once again wish that she could've at least seen her parents one more time before leaving. She hugged the doll again, but this time, it wasn't enough, and she knew that it couldn't be helped.

"I want my mommy, and daddy...", the unicorn filly sniffed, the words coming out so softly that she probably hadn't even meant to say them out loud.

Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo said nothing, but they knew exactly what their friend was feeling. Scootaloo wished that she could be with her own parents, or at least her aunts, and while Apple Bloom's parents were long gone, Granny Smith would be just as welcome to her.

Ponies who were always there. Ponies that the CMC could count on to comfort them. Always there like a safe, warm place they could come home to...

Always there...

But would they be now? After all that had happened? The Crusaders didn't know. And somehow, not knowing made them feel worse...

It was too much. Thinking about their loved ones made the three fillies ache inside, and ultimately, they did the only thing they could think of to make it stop. Since leaving home, sleep had become the only real solace the CMC had been able to find for themselves. As stated before, being asleep meant that they didn't have to think about the painful things that had happened, nor did they have to worry about what they were going to do.

And so, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, & Scootaloo nestled together, and once again laid their heads down to rest, hoping for at least a few moments of forgetfulness. As they lay there together in their makeshift shelter, the three fillies were grateful to at least have each other's company; it was the one thing they could still be thankful for in all of this.

Before long, the three fillies had fallen into a peaceful sleep. However, just before Apple Bloom drifted off, she almost thought that she could hear the tune of a lullaby, the very same lullaby sung to her by her parents, and by Granny Smith...

* * *

Granny Smith stood alone on the outside balcony of the Golden Oak Library. And the elderly earth pony was indeed humming the tune of her granddaughter's favorite lullaby, hoping that the night's wind would carry the soothing melody to Apple Bloom, and her friends, wherever they were...

After she, Big Mac, and Spike had put Applejack to bed, Granny Smith had come out here so she could have a quiet moment to herself. Since the beginning of this crisis, she'd kept her emotions in check as there'd been things that needed doing, and she had to take charge. But now that there was a lull in the search, she finally allowed herself some time to reflect on everything that had happened.

As Granny Smith stood there, staring out into the darkness, and allowing herself to feel genuine worry for Apple Bloom, a single tear fell down her face. For the first time since this whole thing began, the elderly earth pony started to fear the possibility that she may never see her granddaughter again.

"_Don't think like that, ya idiot!_", she scolded herself, "_OF COURSE ya will! If ya dare give up on Apple Bloom now, then what right do ya have to even call yerself her granny?!_"

Granny Smith firmly nodded to herself. She had made a promise to herself years ago that she would care for, and protect her grandchildren as well as their parents had, if not better. Her family had been put through many hardships over the years, but they had never given up. SHE had never given up. And as Celestia as her witness, Granny Smith was NOT gonna give up now!

Not now, not _ever_.

They were going find Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo, and bring them home no matter what it took. The elderly earth pony only wished that she could remove all doubts of that from her mind...

Suddenly, a bloodcurdling scream shocked Granny Smith out of her thoughts, causing her look up in alarm. The scream had come from back inside the library. It was Applejack...

* * *

Applejack suddenly found herself standing just outside of Ponyville. But something was wrong. It was in the middle of the day, and she had no idea how she'd gotten here. What was going on? The last thing she remembered was heading back to the Golden Oak Library with the others after Mayor Mare had dismissed the townsponies. And why was it light out? Hadn't the sun set just a few minutes ago?

Confused, Applejack took a few steps forward, trying to make sense of the situation, when suddenly, she saw somepony off in the distance. No, THREE someponies. There were three little fillies walking along a path heading into town. And Applejack's heart leapt in excitement when she realized who it was. It was Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, and...

"Apple Bloom!", Applejack joyfully cried, and ran towards her little sister, intending to give her the biggest hug ever.

But to Applejack's shock, and confusion, her hooves went right through Apple Bloom's body. It was as if she wasn't even there. And that wasn't all. Apple Bloom hadn't even responded to her big sister's call or her movements; she just stared ahead without any indication that she even realized that Applejack was there. It was then that Applejack finally noticed that while Apple Bloom was looking directly at her, she didn't seem to actually _see_ her.

"Apple Bloom! It's me, little sis! It's Applejack!", Applejack said desperately.

The yellow earth filly still made no response, and that's when the cowpony realized to her dismay that no, Apple Bloom really couldn't see her, and she couldn't _hear_ her either.

The three little fillies began to head into town, and before long, Applejack finally realized just what she was seeing. Somehow, she was being shown exactly what had happened to the Cutie Mark Crusaders the day before they'd run away.

The orange earth pony could only watch as the three little fillies made their way through the town, only to be rejected by everypony they tried to approach.

Applejack saw everything that had happened to the Crusaders:

Rainbow Dash grabbing a cloud and dumping rainwater on the fillies. Fluttershy's bunny Angel slamming the door in their faces as his owner bawled her eyes out. Pinkie Pie and Rarity giving them the silent treatment. Twilight shutting them out by putting up a forcefield around the library, and Spike angrily yelling at them to get lost. The entire town coldly shunning them, and treating them like pariahs...

It was only then, that Applejack fully began to understand just what her little sister, and her friends had gone through, and the realization made the cowpony's heart break as she recalled her own harsh behavior towards her little sister, and her friends.

But it wasn't over yet, for then, Applejack suddenly found herself at Sweet Apple Acres. Then, the orange earth pony saw herself, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and her friends all standing before her, and she realized at once what she was seeing: it was the very moment that she and Big Mac turned their little sister away...

"**Aw c'mon, Applejack!**", Apple Bloom pleaded, "**Yer not mad at us too, are ya?**"

"**Eeyup...**", the other Applejack said, stubbornly refusing to look at her sister.

"**Yer not even gonna talk ta us?**", Apple Bloom asked.

"**Nnnope...**", the other Applejack coldly responded.

"No!", Applejack cried, "Listen ta them! Let them explain!"

"**You should be ashamed of yerself! Humiliatin' yer sister an' me like that!**", Big Mac scolded, fixing the fillies with a cold, hard glare.

"Stop it, Big Mac! They didn't mean it like that!", Applejack screamed.

Then, Big Mac walked up to the fillies to where he towered over them and poked a hoof near Apple Bloom's head before gesturing back in the direction they came.

"**We don't wanna talk ta any y'all right now, so take yer little gossip column an' yer embarrassing photographs an' just GO AWAY!**"

With that, the Crusaders slowly, and sadly began trotting away, as the real Applejack frantically ran after them.

"No! Apple Bloom! Please wait! Don't go!"

When she caught up to them, Applejack desperately tried again to throw her hooves around her little sister, wanting nothing more than to hold her, and let her know that she loved her, but it was futile, as her hooves kept going straight through her little sister's body.

It was one of the cruelest ironies imaginable. In her selfish, petty anger, Applejack had done nothing to help her little sister in her time of need. And now, she desperately wanted more than anything to help her little sister, but she COULDN'T. Then, the orange earth pony's heart sank when she saw Apple Bloom begin to cry as she left Sweet Apple Acres with her friends.

"No, Apple Bloom. Don't cry... Please don't cry... Ah'm _sorry_... ", Applejack choked out as she herself broke down in tears as her guilt overwhelmed her.

"**Mah family hates me..."** Apple Bloom cried softly.

"No, Apple Bloom! Ah don't hate you! I could NEVER hate you! Ah'm sorry... Ah'm so sorry... Ah love you..."

Then, through tear-filled eyes, Applejack saw two more figures standing before her. A mare and a stallion, one wearing a Stelson hat like Applejack's, and the other with orange frizzy hair.

Applejack couldn't believe her eyes... "M...Ma? Pa?"

Buttercup and Bright Mac said nothing. They only stared remorsefully at their daughter with a look of complete, and utter disappointment on their faces.

Then, they began to fade away into nothingness, and before Applejack knew it, they were gone. They were all gone. Buttercup, Bright Mac, Apple Bloom, and even Sweetie Belle & Scootaloo.

Applejack was left alone...

"No..! NO! NOOOOOO!"

* * *

"Applejack!" Big Mac shouted to his sister. "Applejack!"

"Wake up!" cried Spike. "You're having a bad dream!"

With that, the orange earth pony finally woke up and began to scream. "No! No! Apple Bloom! Come back! COME BACK!"

Then, Granny Smith pushed past Big Mac, and Spike, and gave her granddaughter a hard smack across the face. "SNAP OUT OF IT, APPLEJACK! GET A HOLD O' YERSELF!"

Applejack blinked, and then slowly began to calm down.

"Th-Thanks, Granny...", Applejack said, breathing deeply, "Ah' needed that..."

As Applejack's senses fully returned, she suddenly remembered where she was, and she realized that she must have fallen asleep. But her dreams had been anything but sweet.

It was then that Applejack noticed Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash coming up the stairs, having heard their friend's screams.

"Applejack, are you okay?", a concerned Twilight asked.

"Y-Yeah... Just a...a bad dream.", Applejack said shakily, and then she noticed the dark circles under Rarity, and Rainbow Dash's eyes, "Did-did you two have nightmares to?"

"No...", Rainbow Dash slowly shook her head, "We couldn't sleep..."

"I tried... I really did...", Rarity sniffed, "But how can I sleep when...when..."

Unable to finish, Rarity burst into tears, and everypony had to take a step back to avoid getting drenched, except for Spike, who couldn't bear seeing his crush like this.

"Rarity, please...", Spike said as he stepped up and hugged her, "It will be okay..."

"No, it won't!", Rarity sobbed, hugging the baby dragon back, "Don't you remember? It was me who gave Sweetie Belle the idea to start the gossip column in the first place! I basically told her it was okay, that everypony would love it! I loved it! I supported it! And then, when I got gossiped about, I turned my back on her when she needed me the most! I might as well have thrown my little sister to the timberwolves!"

"It wasn't all your fault, Rarity.", Twilight said as tears welled in her own eyes, "We all played a part in this."

"Oh, Big Mac...", Applejack wept, burying her face into her brother's chest, "How could we be so cruel ta our little sis? Why, if somethin' happens ta her, Ah'll never forgive mahself!

"Neither will Ah...", the stallion shamefully agreed.

"You think _you_ were cruel?!", Rainbow Dash exclaimed, "I took my anger out on Scootaloo for something that I brought on myself! After the way I treated her, she's probably found somepony else to look up to by now."

"All right, that's enough.", Granny Smith said sternly, "It's high time y'all stopped beatin' yerselves up like this."

"Wh-why, Granny?", Applejack sniffed, "It's our fault."

"Ah know, but y'all are not gonna make things right by layin' there, feelin' sorry fer yerselves.", the elderly earth pony asserted.

After a long moment of silence, Fluttershy stepped forward, "Granny Smith is right.", the yellow pegasus said, "Punishing ourselves won't get us anywhere, and it certainly won't get us any closer to finding the Crusaders."

"Then what will?", Pinkie Pie asked.

"One thing is certain.", Fluttershy continued, "The search party has been unsuccessful so far. So I think Mayor Mare is right. We need to try something different."

"What exactly have ya got in mind?", asked Big Mac.

Fluttershy thought for a moment. "Well, maybe I could send some of my animals out to look for the Crusaders. They could probably search in ways, and places that we can't."

"Not a bad idea...", Rainbow Dash mused.

Then, Spike spoke up as an idea suddenly came to him, "Hey Twilight, maybe we could also ask Princess Celestia for help."

However, the mere mention of her mentor made Twilight's stomach turn itself over, as she remembered how disappointed Princess Celestia had been the time she went nuts because she hadn't written a letter to Celestia for a week. And the lavender unicorn could only imagine how disappointed Princess Celestia would be in her if she got involved in this, and found out what Twilight, and everypony else had done by shunning the Crusaders, and refusing to help them in their time of need.

"Well... I...", Twilight hesitantly started to say, but she was suddenly interrupted by a knock at the front door of the library. "Who could that be?"

Upon opening the door, everypony was somewhat surprised to see Mayor Mare standing there.

"Mayor Mare?, Twilight inquired, "What are you doing here?"

"Has there been any word on our sisters?", Applejack quickly asked.

"Has there been any sign of them?!", Rarity jumped in.

Mayor Mare shook her head. "I'm afraid not.", she said, stepping inside, "But... There HAS been a new development."

Rainbow Dash blinked. "What KIND of development?"

"Well... I have something here that you all might want to see...", Mayor Mare said, holding up what everypony immediately recognized as a newspaper.

"What's this?", Twilight asked as she took the newspaper with her magic, and read the title of the front page aloud, "Foal Free Press: Gabby Gums-GOLD EDITION?"

"When I went back to town hall to try and contact my associates out of town, this paper was lying on my desk.", Mayor Mare explained.

Confused, everypony gathered around as Twilight opened the paper, and everypony gasped in shock when they saw what had been printed in it:

The most embarrassing moments of the Cutie Mark Crusaders...

* * *

Featherweight had finally given up on trying to get some sleep. There were just too many things swirling around in his head. The Cutie Mark Crusaders were gone, the whole town was frantically searching for them, he was being blackmailed into taking more hurtful photographs by Diamond Tiara, and on top of all this, he was at least partially to blame for this whole mess.

Feeling very guilty, the pegasus colt sat on the edge of his bed, and held his head in his hooves. What was he going to do? For a while, he thought that maybe he could just forget about all this, and maybe nopony would ever find out about his involvement. But who was he kidding? No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get it out of his mind. And even if he could, Diamond Tiara would never let him forget that he worked for her, not as long as she had dirt on him.

And what if the Cutie Mark Crusaders never came home? What if they were never found? Featherweight didn't even want to think about that...

And even if they did come home, what then? Would ponies still be mad them? Would they still face humiliation due to the embarrassing pictures that had just been printed about them? And regardless of what happened, Featherweight himself would still be under Diamond Tiara's hoof, forced to take more embarrassing and hurtful pictures of other ponies.

Featherweight sighed. When he joined the "Foal Free Press", he'd never counted on this. It was all supposed to be fun, but instead, it had turned into a nightmare.

"_You think _this _is a nightmare?_", the pegasus colt's inner voice said, "_What about the Crusaders' friends and families? How do you think they feel?_"

Featherweight knew that this was true. The Crusaders' friends, and family had to be worried sick about them. Featherweight himself had seen how they'd treated the CMC when the fillies had been exposed as Gabby Gums. They probably blamed themselves for this, and if the Crusaders stayed lost, it would break all of their hearts.

Thinking about that made Featherweight's stomach hurt, and he felt like he was going to cry, as he was once again reminded of the fact that this was all just as much his fault as the CMC's and Diamond Tiara's. He felt so bad...

And finally, Featherweight couldn't take it anymore. He knew that he had to do something. More than anything else, the pegasus colt wanted to do the right thing, but for awhile he hadn't been entirely sure just what that was. Now, however, there was only one thing that made any sense to him anymore. There was only one way out of this nightmare.

Featherweight had to tell the truth...

But as soon as the thought went through his mind, Featherweight immediately faltered as his previous fears once again made themselves known.

"Are you nuts?!", the pegasus colt said to himself, "You'll be dead meat if you tattle on Diamond Tiara! And who knows what everypony else will do if you admit that you were the one who took all those pictures! You'll be in big, big, BIG trouble!"

Yes, Featherweight knew that. But what other alternative was there? Keep doing Diamond Tiara's dirty work, and live in guilt-ridden misery for the rest of his life? Could he possibly do that? After a long moment of thought, Featherweight ultimately realized that no, he couldn't. The very thought of it was horrible.

Taking a look out of his bedroom window, Featherweight could just make out the Golden Oak Library off in the distance, and could see that the lights were on inside. He had to do this, regardless of what may happen next. He owed it to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and to their friends, & families. It was the only way...

At last, the pegasus colt took a deep breath, got up from his bed, and began to make his way to the front door of his house.

* * *

Back inside the library, everypony could only stare in shock at the humiliating photos that had been printed of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in the new edition of the school paper.

"Look... Look at Scootaloo!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, pointing at the first picture, "She can't get out of the mud, and those birdbrains are just standing there laughing at her!"

"Well...", a disgusted Fluttershy said, "They're not going to be laughing very much once I get through with them...".

"An' this is one of Apple Bloom's foal pictures!", Granny Smith pointed to the picture of Apple Bloom as a foal with a diaper on her head.

"How in th' wide, wide world of Equestria did that get in here?", Applejack asked, "She made us swear ta never let anypony see those or she'd never live it down."

"And this picture of Sweetie Belle!", Rarity said at last, "I remember that outfit. I totally messed that one up! It didn't even look good on Sweetie Belle, let alone on Sapphire Shores! Maybe if I'd just added more feathers to it..."

Twilight shook her head in confusion. "Okay, something is definitely not right here. If the Crusaders were the ones behind Gabby Gums, and they've run away, then why is the gossip column still running?"

"That's a very good question, Twilight...", Mayor Mare said, "And there's only one answer that I've been able to come up with. There must be somepony else running the Gabby Gums column in the Crusaders absence. It's the only explanation."

"But who? And why?", Fluttershy asked.

"And why didn't we see this paper 'til just now?", Big Mac demanded.

"Most of the town has been out searching for the Crusaders.", Mayor Mare pointed out, "So it's likely that very few ponies actually saw the paper until they went home."

"Yes...", Rarity said, "But who could possibly have taken these pictures, and printed this story?"

Twilight held up the paper again, and began to closely examine it. "Just hold on sec. Maybe there's something in here that will give us some kind of clue..."

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie jumped right in front of Twilight, still wearing her detective's hat, and held her magnifying glass up to the paper. "That's a job for a professional, Twilight!", the pink earth pony said as the lavender unicorn again rolled her eyes at Pinkie's antics.

Pinkie Pie examined the newspaper for several moments, until finally, something caught her eye. "Hey, look at this!"

Everypony gathered around and could just make out through Pinkie's magnifying glass that there was something printed underneath the pictures of the Crusaders.

"It says, 'All photos provided by our staff photographer, Featherweight.'", Pinkie Pie read aloud.

Twilight blinked. "Featherweight?"

"Hey, isn't he that colt who recently got his cutie mark?", Big Mac asked.

"Yeah!", Applejack confirmed, "Apple Bloom was talkin' 'bout that th' other day."

"So he's the one who's been taking all those embarrassing photos of us!", Rainbow Dash said.

"That little _sneak_!", Rarity growled.

"I can't believe it!", Fluttershy gasped, "How could a little colt like him do such a thing?"

"Ah don't know...", Granny Smith said, "But it seems ta me that Featherweight's got some mighty explainin' ta do. Ah think we oughta go have a little talk with him."

"I second the notion, Granny Smith.", Mayor Mare agreed.

"Well, why are we all just standing here?!", Rainbow Dash asked, unfolding her wings, "Let's find that little punk, and give him a piece of our minds!"

"Rainbow Dash, wait...", Twilight said as the sky blue pegasus headed for the front door, "Let's not be hasty. He's just a little colt, and besides, we don't even know where he is."

But Rainbow Dash wasn't in a listening mood. "Well, I'm gonna find out, and then, one way or another, I'm gonna get some anwsers out of him! In any case, we're not gonna find him just standing around in here, and it's not like he's just gonna show up at the front-"

But even as Rainbow Dash spoke, she opened the front door to the library, and then froze in mid-sentence, as there, standing right in front of her, was none other than Featherweight...

* * *

END OF PART 2


	3. Runaway Crusaders Part 3

Scootaloo opened her eyes to see that it was still dark out. She had no idea how long she'd been asleep, but she supposed that didn't really matter. After taking a moment to stretch, and yawn, she paused to take a long look around at her surroundings. Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom were still asleep, and everything was still safe, and quiet in their makeshift shelter. For a few moments, Scootaloo just sat there, unsure of what to do. There really wasn't anything _to_ do.

Ultimately, even though she knew there wasn't much point, the pegasus filly once again found herself wondering what would happen to her and her friends next. None of them had any idea of just how long they were planning to stay in their little cave, but they couldn't stay here forever, though after their encounter with the Timberwolf, Scootaloo kind of wished they could. The pegasus filly held her head in her hooves as the memory flashed through her head again, and she remembered how terribly frightened she'd been. She quickly shook the thought away; she didn't want to think about it.

At last, Scootaloo got to her hooves, and stepped towards the entrance to the small cave. Peering out into the darkness, the pegasus filly saw nothing but shadows, and heard nothing but the slight rustling of branches lightly swaying in the wind. All was well; there was nothing to see, and there was nothing to hear. Scootaloo sighed, wishing that she'd stayed asleep; there wasn't anything to do or think about that served any purpose. Ultimately, the pegasus filly started to head back into the cave, intending to lay back down with her friends...

And then she heard it... The sharp _snap_ of a twig being trampled underhoof... A sound which was quickly followed by the rustle of hoofsteps somewhere in the underbrush...

Scootaloo froze, an icy terror enveloping her little body as the realization slowly sank in. There was someone, or some_thing_ moving about in the darkness just outside of the cave. For an eternally long moment, the pegasus filly stood frozen to the spot, and then, unsure if she was in complete control of her actions, she slowly turned, and began to tiphoof back towards the entrance of the cave. Slowly, and fearfully, she peered out...

She didn't see anything. And not only that, but she didn't hear the noise anymore. Perhaps it had only been her imagination, just like before. But then, just as Scootaloo was starting to breathe a sigh of relief, she saw it: a shadow moving in the dark, coming straight towards her...

Forgoing all efforts to keep quiet, Scootaloo mindlessly darted back into the cave, and began to frantically nudge her friends awake.

"Girls..! Girls! Wake up!"

"Huh?", Sweetie Belle moaned.

"Not yet, granny. Just a few more...", a half-awake Apple Bloom mumbled.

"Something's out there!", Scootaloo breathed.

"Wh-Wha..?", the earth filly finally opened her eyes.

Then, the sounds of movement outside the cave started to get significantly more audible, and the other two fillies immediately snapped awake, all thoughts of sleep promptly vanishing from their minds.

Whatever was out there was getting closer, and as that horrifying realization sank in, the three fillies quickly moved as far back as they could into their small cave, hoping that the darkness there would be enough to hide them. But that hope quickly faded away as they noticed the light of the moon illuminating the cave entrance; all one would have to do was look into the cave, and they would almost certainly be discovered.

And then, in the moonlight, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Apple Bloom saw a shadow fall across the cave entrance, and watched in horror as it steadily grew bigger as the unknown party approached. The three little fillies huddled together, trying to make themselves as small as possible, and desperately struggling to keep quiet, all the while making promises that they would do anything, anything at all if whoever, or whatever it was would only go away. But the hoofsteps only grew louder as whoever or whatever it was finally reached the mouth of the cave...

And then suddenly, a lone figure appeared at the cave entrance, and looked inside...

At last, the Crusaders' nerves snapped, and Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, & Apple Bloom all cried out in terror. The three fillies ran, screaming, and unseeing towards the entrance to the cave, desperately hoping to get past the stranger, and then away into the forest.

"No, wait!", the stranger cried, waving their forelimbs as if trying to ward the frantic Crusaders off.

Then, the three fillies all crashed right into the stranger, sending the four of them sprawling to the forest floor. Apple Bloom quickly began to scramble back to her hooves to gather her friends so they could continue their flight into the woods, but then she stopped, as she suddenly realized that she recognized the stranger's voice.

"Z-Zecora?", the yellow earth filly asked hopefully.

"Apple Bloom? Is that you?", the stranger responded as they stood back up.

"Zecora!", Apple Bloom joyfully cried as she saw in the moonlight that it was in fact the zebra shaman.

"It's really you!", Sweetie Belle exclaimed.

"I can't believe it!", an ecstatic Scootaloo said.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo practically flew forward, glomping onto Zecora, and nearly knocking the zebra mare over again in the process. The three fillies were so relieved, and happy to see a friendly face that they almost cried.

"Well, this is certainly a... a pleasant surprise...", Zecora managed to say as she recovered her bearings, "...Unexpected, but one I certainly cannot despise..."

Needless to say, Zecora was quite caught off guard by the sudden appearance of the Cutie Mark Crusaders this far into the Everfree Forest. While Apple Bloom, and her friends would sometimes come to her hut to pay her a visit every now, and again, the zebra mare was not expecting to find them all the way out here, and she certainly wasn't expecting to see them in the _middle of the night_.

After a moment, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo finally broke the embrace, and took a step back. The three fillies suddenly felt rather embarrassed, and even kinda bad about knocking Zecora over in their panic, and then trying to get away from her, especially since Apple Bloom was the first one in all of Ponyville to really befriend her when everypony else had been afraid of her.

"Sorry we, uh, ran into ya like that...", a sheepish Apple Bloom apologized.

"Yeah...", Scootaloo shyly added, "We thought you were something else...".

"Yeah, sorry...", an embarrassed Sweetie Belle said.

"It's all right.", Zecora smiled reassuringly, "The three of you just...gave me a small fright..."

The three fillies nodded, glad to see that Zecora wasn't mad at them.

But then, the zebra mare's expression turned serious with genuine concern, "But what in the world are you three doing way out here in the middle of the night? I can only assume that something must not be right."

The question made the Crusaders pause, as it suddenly brought their thoughts back to the situation at hand. For a long moment, they remained silent, wondering if Zecora knew anything about the huge mess they'd gotten themselves into back in town. Zecora was one of the few ponies that they knew that they hadn't printed a story about in the Gabby Gums column, and they had no idea if she even read the paper.

"It's... kind of a long story...", Apple Bloom said at last, as she and her friends somberly lowered their gazes.

After a brief moment, Zecora just nodded. It was apparent to the zebra mare that the three fillies really weren't in the mood to explain what had happend to them right now, so she ultimately decided not to press the issue. Whatever the situation was, Zecora decided that it could wait for a little while. For now, it was probably for the best that she just take the Crusaders back to her hut where they would be safe.

"Well, the forest at night is no place for little fillies.", the zebra mare said, "The three of you had better come with me to where it is less chilly."

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo all nodded, and then proceeded to fall in step behind Zecora as she began to lead them back to her home. For the first time since they left town, the fillies felt something akin to happiness as relief flooded through them. At last they were in the company of somepony who wasn't angry with them, and they were finally going to be somewhere where they could feel truly safe.

Deep down however, the Crusaders knew that sooner or later, Zecora would probably try to ask them again just what they were doing out here all alone. And when she did, just what were they going to tell her? They didn't know, and in the end, they were just too mentally drained to figure it out right now, so they tried to push the troubling thought into the back of their minds for now.

For now, they would just follow Zecora to her hut. If she did eventually press them for details, they were sure that they would figure something out. They hoped...

* * *

As Featherweight trotted up to the front door of the Golden Oak Library, he was suddenly having some serious second thoughts about this. Once he did this, once he told everypony the truth, there would be no going back. Diamond Tiara would make sure that he paid for this, and there was no telling what everypony else in Ponyville would do.

Featherweight raised his hoof to knock on the door, but ultimately, he found himself unable to, for in that moment, his courage had deserted him.

"I can't... I can't do this...", the pegasus colt said, ashamed of himself for being so gutless.

But before Featherweight could actually back out, the door to the library suddenly opened by itself, and he found himself face to face with none other than Rainbow Dash. Featherweight felt his heart leap into his throat at the sight of the brash pegasus mare who he'd taken the picture of getting a hooficure at the spa. Rainbow Dash seemed surprised to see him to, but she didn't dwell on it long, and her face quickly morphed into an expression of intense anger. Featherweight froze in terror as he suddenly got a strong feeling that somehow, someway, she already knew what he was responsible for.

The pegasus colt's instincts screamed at him to run, but before he could even make a move to do so, Rainbow Dash grabbed his still raised hoof, and yanked him inside the library before he could even blink.

"W-Wait!"

Once inside the library, Featherweight's heart sank as he found himself surrounded by Rainbow Dash, Applejack, (Private Eye) Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Rarity, Spike, Big Mac, Granny Smith, & Mayor Mare. And a few of them didn't look too happy.

"All right, you little weasel...", Rainbow Dash seethed as she menacingly advanced on the pegasus colt, "Start talking..."

"I-I-I don't know what you're talkin' about!", Featherweight babbled as he tried to back away only to back himself into a wall.

"Here, let me help jog your memory!", the sky blue pegasus growled, reaching out to grab him again, only to be pulled back by Twilight's magic.

"Rainbow, no!", Twilight said, "Let's not do something that we'll regret!"

"Are you kidding?!", Rainbow Dash asked, "This little punk caused my humiliation in the Gabby Gums column, and made me take it out on Scootaloo!"

"Yeah!", Applejack agreed, "Cause of him, Big Mac an' Ah snapped at Apple Bloom when she didn't really deserve it, an' now she's gone!"

Featherweight began to tremble uncontrollably as his worst fears were confirmed. They DID know what he'd done.

"N-No... P-Please..."

"Everypony please calm down.", Fluttershy said sympathetically, "Look at him. He's so scared..."

"Oh, I'll give him something to REALLY be scared about if he doesn't start giving us some answers!", Rainbow Dash snorted.

Then, Granny Smith loudly cleared her throat, causing everypony to look over at her, and Mayor Mare. The two older ponies both gave everypony a stern, disapproving look, and then calmly walked up to the cowering Featherweight.

"Featherweight..." Granny Smith began, her voice stern, but gentle at the same time, "Ah'll start this off by sayin' that yer probably in trouble. As ya probably know by now, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo have run away because o' how they were treated fer th' Gabby Gums gossip column. But now, it appears that somepony's released a new edition of th' gossip column with pictures o' them in it despite th' fact that they ain't here ta run it."

"Yes, and it also says that as staff photographer...", Mayor Mare added, "You're responsible for taking all of the photographs. Would you care to explain this?"

Featherweight's heart pounded inside his chest. "N-No, it's not... I...I didn't...", he stuttered.

"It was you! It was you takin' those embarrassin' pictures o' us all along!", Big Mac barked.

"You dirty little sneak!" snapped Rainbow Dash, "There's nowhere in all of Equestria where you'll be safe from ME!"

Featherweight flinched at their words, and he shrank back against the wall even more, feeling smaller than he'd ever felt in his young life. What had he been thinking? He should never have come here. He just wanted to hide. He wanted to go _home_...

Granny Smith, and Mayor Mare turned to give everypony another stern glare, when suddenly, Fluttershy calmly stepped forward, and began to gently stroke Featherweight's mane with her hoof.

"Featherweight, listen to me...", the yellow pegasus said, her voice soft, and soothing, "I know that you've done some bad things, but that doesn't mean that you're a bad colt. Everypony makes mistakes, and perhaps it's not too late to fix the mistakes that you've made."

"That's right.", Granny Smith agreed, "It's never too late ta do th' right thing."

Mayor Mare nodded, "And something tells me that that's exactly what you WANT to do. What other reason would you have to come here, and at this hour no less?"

The pegasus colt had no answer for that, because it was true; that was exactly why he'd come here, because he'd wanted to do the right thing. But now that he was actually here, he didn't know if he could...

"Please, Featherweight...", Fluttershy continued, "While I can't speak for everypony, if you just tell us the truth, I won't be mad. I promise..."

Featherweight stared up at Fluttershy with wide eyes, shocked at how completely sincere she was being with him. He had seen just how terribly upset she'd been about that photograph he'd made of her with tail extensions. She should be furious with him. But she wasn't, and she was giving him a chance as though he really deserved it. And so were Mayor Mare, and Granny Smith, despite everything that he'd done.

It was all too much, and at last, the pressure from this whole terrible situation, as well as Featherweight's own guilt and shame, finally overwhelmed him, and he burst into tears.

"ALL RIGHT! I ADMIT IT! IT'S TRUE!", the pegasus colt cried, "I DID take the photos! I took them all!"

"And at last, the truth is out...", (Private Eye) Pinkie Pie said.

"Featherweight, how could you do that?", Twilight asked, stepping forward, "Taking those embarrassing pictures, and having them printed in the paper really hurt everypony. They really hurt _us_. You had to know that what you were doing was wrong."

"I'm sorry!", Featherweight sobbed, "But I swear that it was wasn't all my fault! The Cutie Mark Crusaders, and I wanted to stop when we realized that we were hurting everypony's feelings, but then Diamond Tiara..."

Featherweight froze in mid-sentence as he realized what he was about to say, and covered his mouth with his hooves as Diamond Tiara's threats flashed through his head again.

"Diamond Tiara?", Applejack asked, "What about her?"

"Uhh...nothing!", Featherweight squeaked.

Granny Smith looked down intently at the pegasus colt. "Featherweight, is there somethin' we need ta know?"

"I... I can't tell you... If-If she finds out..."

"Featherweight, please...", Mayor Mare implored, "You have to tell us what's going on."

"I can't! Th-Then I'll be a tattletale!", Featherweight protested.

"Darling...", Rarity said, "There's a big difference between snitching, and just telling the truth".

"Th-There is..?", Featherweight sniffed.

"Yes.", Fluttershy confirmed, "Tattling is telling on somepony just to be mean. That's not what you're doing. You're just telling us what's wrong so that we can help. And I promise that we WILL help you if you just tell us the truth about what's going on."

For a long moment, Featherweight was silent, until at last, he let out a deep, heavy sigh as he realized that they were right. He couldn't run away from this.

"Okay, okay. I'll tell you...", the pegasus colt slowly began, "Diamond Tiara is our editor-in-chief; she's the one who decides what gets printed in the school paper. When everypony started getting hurt by Gabby Gums, the Crusaders wanted to stop, but Diamond Tiara wouldn't let them. She said that she didn't care if feelings got hurt, and she threatened to print those embarrassing pictures of the Crusaders if they didn't get her more stories. And when they didn't come back, she went ahead and printed them. I tried to reason with her myself, but then she revealed that she also has an embarrassing picture of me, and threatened to print it in the paper if I don't keep taking pictures for her!"

There. He'd said it. And now that he had, there was no going back. There was no telling what would happen now. And once again, Featherweight was overcome by a rush of guilt, fear, & anxiety, and he quickly started bawling again. _Well, go ahead and cry, _he thought, _I guess it can't makes things much worse..._

"Shhh... Shhh... It's okay, Featherweight.", Fluttershy cooed, hugging the pegasus colt against her chest, "It's okay. You did the right thing."

As the pegasus colt's revelation fully sank in, everypony in the library became filled with outrage and disgust.

"Why that's gotta be th' single most rotten thing she's ever done!", Applejack said.

"Eeyup!", Big Mac agreed, his voice filled with anger and regret, "Hearing this makes me feel even worse fer snappin' at Apple Bloom."

Twilight shook her head, mortified. "I can't believe it. I knew that Diamond Tiara wasn't the nicest filly around, but this is just disgraceful!"

"Forget disgraceful! It's disgusting!", said Spike.

"Absolutely deplorable!", Rarity added, "Who ever put her in charge of the school newspaper?"

"It was Miss Cheerlie. She put Diamond Tiara in charge.", Featherweight managed to say through his tears.

Mayor Mare and Granny Smith looked at one another, both of them shocked at this whole situation. In addition to Diamond Tiara's actions, the two older ponies also couldn't help but reflect on the fact that the school newspaper regulations set by Miss Cheerlie may have not at all been well thought out.

At last, Mayor Mare said, "I don't think that Cheerlie ever visualized a situation like this. Do you?"

"No, I don't...", the elderly earth pony answered, "But one thing is certain. This is absolutely unacceptable. Somethin's gotta be done."

"Darn tootin', Granny!", Applejack agreed, "I say we go lasso up that rotten apple right now, an' shut her down fer good!"

"I second the notion!", Rarity put in.

"No! You can't do that!", Featherweight cried, "Then Diamond Tiara will know that I told on her! And she'll..."

"She will do nothing of the sort.", Mayor Mare assured, "We will make sure of that."

"Y-You will?", the pegasus colt asked.

"Yeah!", Rainbow Dash confirmed, "If that rotten little brat wants a story, then we'll give her a story she won't forget!"

"Well, I think I have plan. But first things first...", Twilight began, "We'll need to let Cheerlie and everypony else in town know what's going on."

"I agree completely, Twilight.", Mayor Mare nodded, "Granny Smith, and I will go talk to Cheerlie, while you and your friends go spread the word to the rest of the town."

"Right!", (Private Eye) Pinkie Pie said, suddenly jumping in with a stack of flyers in her hooves, "And I'll get to work putting Diamond Tiara's 'Wanted' poster up all over Ponyville!"

The entire library was silent as everypony just stared blankly at Pinkie Pie for a very long moment.

"That...won't be necessary, Pinkie Pie.", Fluttershy said at last, though she and everypony else couldn't help but wonder just how Pinkie had gotten all of those posters together so fast before they remembered that it was best not to question her.

"Okay, enough talk!", an incensed Rainbow Dash unfolded her wings again, "We've got a tiara to dethrone! It's time to take out the trash!"

* * *

Meanwhile, back inside the Everfree Forest, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo sat in front of the fire that Zecora had built up in the center of her hut (where she usually brewed her potions) so that they could warm themselves after spending all that time out in the forest. Upon arriving at the zebra shaman's home some time earlier, the three little fillies had felt truly safe and sound for the first time since they'd left Ponyville, and they were eternally grateful to Zecora for taking them in.

After a while however, Zecora had tried again to ask them some questions about what they'd been doing way out here in the middle of the night. In the end, they'd managed to cobble together a story about how they'd gotten lost during a hiking trip, and had accidentally crossed over into the Everfree Forest. Much to the relief of the three fillies, the zebra mare seemed to have brought the story because she hadn't pressed them for any more details. Not long after that, Zecora had stepped out of the room for a few moments in order to get a couple of "essentials" for them.

Having a few moments alone, the Crusaders soon began to talk amongst themselves.

"We sure are lucky that Zecora found us.", Sweetie Belle said, "I was starting to think that we were going to have to stay in that cave forever."

Apple Bloom nodded, "Yeah. She was probably out lookin' fer glowin' mushrooms. She needs 'em fer some o' her special potions, an' ya can only find 'em late at night. Lucky fer us."

"So do you... Do you think she really bought our little story?", Scootaloo asked, somewhat uneasily, "I mean, you don't think she knows about what's been going on with us back in town, do you?"

"No, Ah'm sure she doesn't...", Apple Bloom assured her friend, "Ah don't think she even reads th' paper. How would she know?"

"Yeah... Right... But...but what about...?"

"There ain't nothin' ta worry about.", Apple Bloom insisted, "Zecora doesn't even know that we ran away from Ponyville. She won't suspect a thing."

Scootaloo nodded, but said nothing else.

Sweetie Belle looked at her friends intently, "Well, anyways, it's good to finally be someplace that's safe and warm..."

"And ta finally be with somepony who...who..." Apple Bloom started to add.

"Who doesn't hate us like everypony else...", Scootaloo finished for her.

Depressed, the three fillies could only sigh in despair.

"Why would everypony hate you?", Zecora's voice came from behind them.

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, & Scootaloo froze as it suddenly hit them that Zecora was standing right behind them.

"Z-Zecora?!", Apple Bloom exclaimed, as the three fillies spun around to face the zebra mare.

"H-How...How much did you hear?", Sweetie Belle asked fearfully.

"I heard every chime, for I was listening the entire time.", Zecora answered, keeping her voice soft, and gentle.

Scootaloo stared up at her, "So you... You never bought our story...?"

"No, I didn't.", Zecora confirmed.

The truth was that Zecora had known all along that the Crusaders had just made up that story about how they'd gotten lost on a hiking trip. Zecora wasn't stupid. It was pretty obvious to her that that story had been rather badly put together on spur of the moment, and not only that, but she also knew for a fact that the Crusaders' families would never have allowed them come all the way out here without any kind of supervision. Especially not if there was a real risk of them becoming lost in the Everfree Forest.

But Zecora could tell from their somber expressions, and evasive answers that the Crusaders really didn't want to tell her their real story. Something was _really_ bothering them. So instead, she had played along with them in the hopes that she would overhear them speak of what was really going on amongst themselves. And in the end, that gamble had paid off.

For a long moment, the three fillies said nothing. They had no idea what to say. At last, Zecora broke the silence.

"Why would you three ever run away from Ponyville? From your _home_?", she asked, clearly shocked, to the point where she actually forgot to speak in her usual rhymes, "And why...why would you ever think that everypony hated you?"

"Cause it's _true_, Zecora...", Apple Bloom said at last, "Nopony wants us around no more..."

"Why do you say that?", the zebra mare asked.

"Because...", Sweetie Belle started to say, but found herself unable to continue. How could they tell Zecora about what they did?

"What happend? You can tell me.", Zecora assured.

"We don't want to talk about it...", Scootaloo said sadly.

"This may sound hard to believe...", Zecora replied, "But when something is troubling you, talking about it will help you feel relieved."

The three little fillies said nothing, and only lowered their gazes. Zecora could see from their expressions that they felt bad, ashamed even. And this observation alone made the answer rather obvious to Zecora: the fillies had gotten themselves into trouble back at home...

"What did you do?", the zebra mare finally asked.

For an eternally long moment, the Crusaders remained silent, until finally, Apple Bloom answered, "Somethin' awful..."

Zecora nodded, and she was silent for a long moment, until finally, in as gentle a voice as she could muster, she said , "Girls, look up at me."

Slowly, but surely, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo lifted their heads to meet Zecora's gaze.

"Whatever might have happend, whatever you may have done, if you just tell me what's wrong, you have my word that I won't be angry, and I will do all that I can help you get along."

The Crusaders stared up at Zecora for a very long moment, until finally, the three resigned friends looked at one another, and slowly nodded, deciding that they might as well come clean. If worst came to worst, and Zecora did get mad at them just like everypony else, at least they weren't lost anymore, and they would probably now be able to find their way. And it wasn't as if they could've stayed with Zecora forever anyways.

"Okay...", the fillies said in unison, and at last, they began to tell their story.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle & Scootaloo told Zecora everything. How they'd joined their school newspaper, the Foal Free Press, to try and get their cutie marks in journalism. How they started the Gabby Gums gossip column and wrote those embarrassing stories about everypony. How Diamond Tiara blackmailed them into continuing when they'd wanted to stop. And finally, how they'd run away from home after being angrily rejected by everyone in town, even their own friends and family. All the while, Zecora listened to them intently, allowing them to tell their whole story, and to fully explain themselves.

Overwhelmed by emotion, the Crusaders began to break down in tears as they brought their story to an end, so Zecora gave them a few moments to let their feelings out, as she took in everything they'd told her. The zebra mare had been shocked by what she'd heard. While it was indeed wrong of the Crusaders to write those hurtful stories, the townsponies had gone way too far in their treatment of the three little fillies. It was especially shameful considering the fact that everypony loved the stories at first, and wanted to see more of them. And then there were the actions of Diamond Tiara...

At last, the Crusaders managed to stop crying, and Zecora handed them a few handkerchiefs so they could blow their noses, and dry their eyes.

"There, now you know you the truth...", Sweetie Belle choked out.

"We'll leave now if that's what ya want...", Apple Bloom sniffed.

Zecora shook her head. "No, that's not what I want at all.", she assured them.

"You're... You're not mad at us?", Scootaloo asked.

"Well, I _am _a little disappointed, and I can't really blame everypony in Ponyville for being upset with you...", Zecora admitted, "But at the same time, I believe that their treatment was completely undue." She paused for a moment as another thought came to her. "But one thing I don't understand is, why didn't you tell anypony about Diamond Tiara?"

Apple Bloom shrugged sadly, "We didn't think that anypony would believe us..."

"They wouldn't listen to us before, so what point was there in trying again?", a glum Scootaloo asked.

"Okay...I guess I can understand why you felt that way.", Zecora conceded.

"We didn't know what to do.", Sweetie Belle said despondently, "Nopony would listen to us, and nopony wanted us around anymore, so we...we...well, I guess you know the rest..."

Zecora nodded slowly, and thought for a long moment about what to say next. She felt bad for the girls; while they had certainly made a big mistake, they surely didn't deserve such harsh treatment. And what was more, Zecora knew what it was like to be shunned, as she herself had been considered an outcast by all of Ponyville until she had been befriended by Apple Bloom, allowing her to then befriend Twilight Sparkle, and her friends. And now, it was Apple Bloom, as well as Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo, who had been shunned by all of Ponyville. But perhaps, Zecora thought, she could now return the kindness that the yellow earth filly had done her.

"Girls...", Zecora said at last, "I understand how you must feel, and I know that it appears as if you are no longer wanted in Ponyville. But I also know that in spite of how everything must seem, your family and friends love you, and they would NEVER want you to leave."

"You wouldn't say that if you'd actually been there...", Sweetie Belle insisted.

"I know that they were very harsh with you, but I'm sure that they didn't mean it.", Zecora assured.

Unconvinced, Scootaloo shook her head. "Rainbow Dash dumping a raincloud on us, Pinkie Pie not wanting to talk, Twilight putting up a forcefield around her home, and Big Mac actually yelling at us? That's sounds a lot like meaning it to me..."

"Sometimes...", Zecora sighed, "Anger gets the better of us, and we end up saying or doing something that we wouldn't normally say or do."

"Thanks fer tryin' ta cheer us up, Zecora.", Apple Bloom said sadly, "But we can't go back. There ain't no place fer us anymore..."

Zecora looked down at Apple Bloom intently, once again forgoing her usual rhymes to show how serious she was, "That isn't true, Apple Bloom. Once, there seemed to be no place for me in Ponyville, remember? Everypony was afraid of me, but it was you who showed them that there was no need to be. It was because of you that I was finally able to make friends in Ponyville. Perhaps I can now help you...just like how you helped me."

After a moment, Apple Bloom sighed, but said ultimately nothing, and neither did Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo.

"I'll tell you what." Zecora suggested, "How about the three of you go into my bedroom, and think things over for a little awhile, maybe even try to get some rest. We can talk some more about this later."

In the end, the three little fillies somberly nodded in agreement.

"Okay... Yeah, that's sound good... Thanks, Zecora...", Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, & Apple Bloom said respectively.

Zecora put on a soft smile to try and reassure them. "Just take it easy for a little while, and try to clear your minds. I promise that will find a way to sort this out, and that everything will be fine."

The Crusaders all nodded again, though rather half-heartedly this time. They still weren't convinced that everything would ultimately turn out to be okay. But still, they had accepted Zecora's offer, and that was a start. In fact, even as the three little fillies headed into Zecora's bedroom, and closed the door behind them, the zebra mare had already begun to form a plan inside of her head.

Zecora knew, even if the Crusaders were unable to accept it, that their friends, and family would never wish them gone, no matter how angry they had been with them. In fact, if she knew Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and all the others, they were probably worried sick, and doing absolutely everything in their power to find the three missing fillies. Not only did Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo need Zecora's help, but she needed to let their friends and family know that they were okay as soon as possible.

And so, Zecora waited quietly for some time, listening intently as to what was happening behind her bedroom door. She could hear the three little fillies speaking to one another for a short time, but eventually, they quieted down, and she heard nothing more. After waiting for a few more minutes just to be safe, the zebra mare opened her bedroom door open a crack, and looked inside to see the three fillies sound asleep in her bed.

The first part of her plan had succeeded, and now it was time to go...

Closing the door as quickly, and quietly as she could, Zecora placed a hastily written note on the floor just outside the bedroom where the Crusaders would see it on the off chance that they woke up while she was gone, but with luck, she would already be back by then. And she had no intention of returning alone.

Quietly slipping out the front door to her hut, Zecora ran as fast as she could in the direction of Ponyville...

* * *

Meanwhile, morning had finally dawned in Ponyville, and Diamond Tiara was walking up to the Ponyville Schoolhouse. The pink earth filly was feeling very satisfied as she reflected on the events of the previous day. Thanks to her, the Foal Free Press had not only avoided a crisis, but had released it's juiciest edition yet, and she couldn't wait to see how much of a success it had been. A smug grin spread across her face as she thought about the Cutie Mark Crusaders' most embarrassing moments being seen by everypony in town.

"You've really outdone yourself this time, Diamond Tiara.", she said to herself, "The Foal Free Press has reached the top, and it looks like the blank flanks are gonna need a new name. How about 'The Cutie Mark Laughingstocks'?"

Diamond Tiara chuckled to herself, but at the same time, she couldn't help but lament the loss of the Crusaders as the writers behind the Gabby Gums column. Since she'd already printed those pictures of them in the paper, she didn't have anything else to blackmail them with, and there was no more reason for them to work for her. And then there was all that talk going around town about them being missing...that they may have even run away...

Diamond Tiara quickly shrugged off that train of thought. Everypony was probably just overreacting, as usual. The blank flanks were probably just hiding out in that stupid clubhouse of theirs or something because they were too afraid to show their faces in town after having their most embarrassing moments printed for everypony to laugh at. They'd show up sooner or later...

Oh, well. In any case, losing the Crusaders from her staff was no huge loss. She didn't need them. She still had Featherweight to get her more juicy pictures. She could work with that. And if all else failed, she could always find something else to blackmail them with. There was nothing to worry about.

Trotting up to the door to the basement of the schoolhouse, Diamond Tiara promptly let herself in, ready to address her loyal newspaper staff.

"All right. Places, everypony!", Diamond Tiara announced, "We've got a lot of work to do before-"

Diamond Tiara stopped in mid-sentence as her mind finally registered what she was seeing. The school basement was completely empty, and her staff was nowhere to be seen.

"Hello? ", the pink earth filly called.

"M-Morning, chief...", a voice answered.

Diamond Tiara looked up to see Featherweight standing beside her desk at the back of the room, but the pegasus colt seemed to be the only one here.

"Where's everypony else?", Diamond Tiara asked.

Featherweight shrugged uneasily, "I'm, uh, sure that they're on their way..."

She scowled in irritation, "They better not be late."

Making her way to her desk, Diamond Tiara took her seat in the editor-in-chief's chair before continuing to address Featherweight, the only one of her staff to deal with at the moment.

"While we're waiting...", Diamond Tiara sighed in annoyance, "What have you got for me?"

"Well, a-actually I...uh...", the pegasus colt nervously began.

"It better be something good if we want to top yesterday's edition!"

"Diamond Tiara, we have to talk...", Featherweight said.

She gave him an impatient look. "We did that yesterday, remember? Now show me what-"

"I quit.", the pegasus colt said simply.

That caught Diamond Tiara's attention, and for a long moment, she just stared at him, sure that he hadn't heard him right.

"I'm sorry. You wanna run that by me again?"

"I'm through.", Featherweight repeated, "I'm not going to take anymore hurtful photographs of other ponies for you."

Diamond Tiara couldn't believe what she'd just heard. Featherweight HAD to be joking. He wouldn't DARE defy her. Was he forgetting that she had dirt on him?

"You don't say?", Diamond Tiara said at last in a low, cold voice, "I think you're forgetting one teensy-weensy, but ever so crucial little, tiny detail." Then her voice suddenly rose to rough shout. "I! OWN! YOU! Either you get me some juicy pictures for our next edition, or I will make YOU our next edition!"

Featherweight was afraid, but this time, he found the courage to stand his ground.

"You mean like how you did to the Cutie Mark Crusaders when _they'd _wanted to stop?"

"Exactly!", Diamond Tiara said shamelessly, "The blank flanks wouldn't get back in line, so I had to take matters into my own hooves! And I WILL do it again if _you _don't get back in line!"

"You're the one who's out of line, Diamond Tiara.", Featherweight countered, "The Crusaders were right. This has gone too far; we're not doing the right thing anymore."

Diamond Tiara snorted, "Oh, and let me guess. We're 'hurting other ponies feelings' to, right? What have I told both you, and the blank flanks about feelings, Feathers?"

"That you don't care about them.", the pegasus colt answered.

"That's right! I don't!", the pink earth filly confirmed, "And you'd better remember it this time, because I'm not gonna tell you again! We are NOT stopping the Gabby Gums column! Not now, not yesterday, not the day before yesterday, not EVER! So as your boss, I command you to get out there, and get me some more pictures, OR ELSE!"

"Ah'm sorry, Diamond Tiara...", another voice said.

Startled, Diamond Tiara looked up, and suddenly saw a very stern-looking Granny Smith stepping out from shadow in a corner of the basement.

"But Ah'm afraid we can't allow ya ta do that...", the elderly earth pony finished.

"Wh-Wha...", a confused Diamond Tiara started to say.

But the words died before they were even out of her mouth, for it was then that Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, (Private Eye) Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, Twilight Sparkle, Spike, and Big Mac all emerged from various hiding places throughout the basement. As the ponies, and baby dragon began to surround Diamond Tiara, the pink earth filly began to feel a sense of dread forming in the pit of her stomach as they all glared ice-cold daggers at her.

"Wh-What's going on? What are you all doing here?", Diamond Tiara asked uneasily, even as it suddenly hit her that they'd likely heard everything she'd said to Featherweight.

"You're the boss here...", Big Mac said in eerily calm voice, "You tell us..."

Rarity narrowed her eyes, "So you like juicy stories, do you, Diamond Tiara?"

"Well, it's your lucky day, 'cause we've got a story for you..." Rainbow Dash snorted.

"Yeah!", Applejack seethed, "And it's called, 'Spoiled Rotten Filly Blackmails Our Little Sisters Into Doin' Her Dirty Work!'."

As their furious words sank in, Diamond Tiara felt an icy chill creep down her spine as her fears were confirmed. _Don't worry_, she tried to reassure herself, _No matter what they may have heard, they can't prove anything._

"No-Now listen, everypony. This can all be explained..."

"Don't even try to sweet talk your way out of this one...", Rainbow Dash growled.

"The jig is up, Diamond Tiara...", Twilight said as she used her magic to reveal a microphone that they'd strategically placed underneath the editor's desk, much to the pink earth filly's shock, "Not only did we hear everything you just said, but Featherweight told us the _whole story_."

For a moment, Diamond Tiara was too stunned to speak. No. Impossible. Featherweight wouldn't have DARED snitch on her. And yet, he had. How else could she explain what was happening? These ponies were here, and they had set her up, because Featherweight had ratted her out. And as that realization fully sank in, Diamond Tiara bared her teeth as she quickly became filled with utter fury.

"You buck-toothed tattletale! You're about to be REAL sorry!", Diamond Tiara all but roared as she began to menacingly advance on the pegasus colt, fully intending to throttle him.

But before Diamond Tiara could reach him, Fluttershy immediately stepped between her and Featherweight, and then unleashed "The Stare" on the pink earth filly. In an instant, Diamond Tiara froze on the spot, her fury practically _evaporating _as the effect took hold. Disoriented, and gripped by fear, she was forced to back off. Unnerved by the effects of "The Stare", and surrounded by a group of angry ponies, Diamond Tiara finally lost her nerve, and decided that it was high time to get out of dodge.

As the pink earth filly ran for the basement exit, she noticed that nopony actually tried to stop her. For a moment, Diamond Tiara couldn't help but grin at how stupid they were to have just let her slip through their hooves like that. But her feelings of triumph were very short-lived, for no sooner did she burst out the basement door, did she stop dead in her tracks at the sight that greeted her just outside.

Waiting for Diamond Tiara right outside Ponyville Schoolhouse was Miss Cheerlie, and Mayor Mare...with virtually every pony in town standing right behind them. And NONE of them looked too happy...

"Muh...M-Miss Cheerlie! M-Miss Mayor!", Diamond Tiara stuttered, "Wh-What a surprise..."

"Indeed...", Mayor More said sternly, pointing to a loudspeaker that had been set up nearby, which Diamond Tiara immediately realized must have been connected to the microphone that Twilight had hidden under her desk.

"Y-You...You all heard...?", she stammered.

"Every. Word.", Miss Cheerlie said, as the townsponies all glowered angrily at the pink earth filly.

Diamond Tiara quickly turned to flee back into the basement, only to find that Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, (Private Eye) Pinkie Pie, Twilight Sparkle, Fluttershy, Spike, Big Mac, Granny Smith, and Featherweight had emerged to block her path.

"Give it up, Diamond Tiara! You've got nowhere to run!", Rainbow Dash growled.

"We have you surrounded!", (Private Eye) Pinkie Pie said as though she were making an actual arrest, "Make it easy on yourself, and come out with your hooves up!"

"Pinkie Pie...", Twilight was trying very to keep her face straight; she'd had just about enough of Pinkie's antics for one day, "Will you please cut that out, and let us handle this?"

"Huh, suit yourself...", the pink earth pony sighed as she FINALLY ditched her detective garb.

Diamond Tiara had barely even noticed Pinkie Pie's latest shenanigan, and considering the fact that she'd found herself surrounded by a large crowd of angry ponies, that was very understandable.

"Now, now...", the pink earth filly said quickly, trying to appear unafraid, "L-listen to me, everypony..."

"Oh, that won't be necessary, Diamond Tiara.", Mayor Mare replied, "Everypony has heard quite enough already."

"Yes.", a very serious Miss Cheerlie agreed, "And as your teacher, I must say, that you've got quite a lot to answer for."

Applejack angrily stepped forward, "Y'all got that right! It was this bratty troublemaker who was behind everythin' all along!"

"Eeyup!", a furious Big Mac agreed.

"Who are you calling 'bratty'?!", an offended Diamond Tiara asked.

"You, you _little_..!", Rainbow Dash almost lunged at the pink earth filly, prompting Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy to restrain her.

Miss Cheerlie stepped forward, "I can't believe all the things I've heard, Diamond Tiara! I make you the editor-in-chief of the Foal Free Press, and you disgrace the school paper by publishing hurtful gossip, AND you blackmail your staff into doing your bidding! You should be ashamed of yourself!"

Several ponies within the crowd voiced their own anger, and outrage at Diamond Tiara's actions.

"Wait just a minute!", Diamond Tiara exclaimed, "All I was trying to do was get some juicy stories for the school paper! Is that a crime?!"

"And to do it...", Twilight scolded, "...you forced Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, & Scootaloo to write more hurtful stories for you until everypony got so mad at them that they ran away from home?!"

"Our poor little sisters are lost out there somewhere...", Rarity wailed rather dramatically before pointing an accusing hoof at Diamond Tiara, "And it's all because of YOU!"

"_ME_?!", an indignant Diamond Tiara retorted, "_I_ am not the one who treated them like common criminals, and _I_ never told them to run away! You can't blame me for that!"

"And what about the gossip column?", Fluttershy crossly pointed out, "How could you keep publishing those stories when you knew that they hurt other ponies' feelings?"

Spike snorted, "You heard what Diamond Tiara said! She doesn't care about other ponies' feelings!"

The crowd of ponies all gasped in shock and outrage.

"Hey! I was giving all of you ponies what you WANTED!", Diamond Tiara shouted, "_I _am not the one who started the Gabby Gums column, and _I _am not the one who WANTED to see more of those stories in the FIRST PLACE!"

The pink earth filly's words made everypony pause, because like it or not, it _was _the truth. Most of the ponies in town _had_ loved, and fully supported the gossip column, only deciding that it was bad when the joke was on them, including Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, who'd respectively given the Crusaders the idea for Gabby Gums, and who'd wanted a story to be written about her in the first place.

"And if those stories hurt everypony so bad...", Diamond Tiara continued, "Then why didn't anypony come, and tell us to cut it out? Why didn't Miss Cheerlie come, and tell us to cut it out? She's our teacher, isn't she? Where was she during all this?!"

Cheerlie lowered her eyes at Diamond Tiara's words. It was true; she _had _failed to oversee the school newspaper. Not only that, but the townsponies also couldn't deny the fact that nopony had even bothered to complain about the situation to Cheerlie, not even Mayor Mare or Twilight Sparkle (Gabby Gums' biggest critic).

Instead, all anypony had done was harshly, and unfairly treat three little fillies as social outcasts until they ran away from home. If they'd listened, if they'd just allowed the Crusaders to explain themselves, then they probably wouldn't have run away, and all of this could have been cleared up much sooner.

"You can't pin this whole rap on me!", Diamond Tiara insisted, "Not when what everypony else standing here did was wrong to!"

In the end, everypony found that they simply couldn't disagree with that statement. Diamond Tiara may have blackmailed the Cutie Mark Crusaders (and by extension, Featherweight) into continuing the gossip column when they'd wanted to stop, but that didn't absolve everypony else of their own mistakes. While Diamond Tiara certainly wasn't being sincere, and had probably only said those things in order to shift the blame off of herself, that didn't make what she'd said any less true.

"That may be, Diamond Tiara...", Mayor Mare conceded, "The cold, hard truth of the matter is that we're _all _somewhat to blame for this whole mess."

"That's right!" Diamond Tiara rather smugly asserted.

"Don't get too comfortable, little lady...", Granny Smith said with a slight smile, "Cause that don't mean yer off th' hook."

"No, it certainly does not...", Mayor Mare sternly added, "Because regardless of the things that _we_ have done, Diamond Tiara, it still doesn't excuse the things that _you _have done."

Miss Cheerlie nodded, "That's right! You still blackmailed your staff into printing more hurtful gossip, and embarrassing pictures when they had wanted to stop, and that is completely unacceptable!"

"In any case, you're days as editor-in-chief of the Foal Free Press are over.", Mayor Mare declared.

"What?! You can't-", Diamond Tiara was incredulous at the idea that they thought they could force her to step down as editor-in-chief. Were they forgetting that her mother was president of the school board?

"And...", Miss Cheerlie interrupted, "You are also going to turn that folder full of all those embarrassing photos over to me."

"Forget it!", Diamond Tiara snorted, "Those photos are my property! And you're all crazy if you think you can make me step down as editor-in-chief! None of you are the boss of me, and none of you can tell me what to do!"

"No, but _I_ can!", a stern voice called out.

Everypony turned at the sound of the voice to see Diamond Tiara's father, Filthy Rich emerge from the crowd, and he was NOT in a good mood.

"D-Dad?!", Diamond Tiara gasped in horror.

Filthy Rich trotted up to his daughter, and glared down at her with a look of complete, and utter disapproval.

"All I have to say, young lady, is that I am VERY disappointed in you.", he said angrily, " I honestly had expected better of my daughter than to bring shame on the family name like this."

Diamond Tiara was left stuttering. "B-But...But...".

"Apparently...", Filthy Rich continued, "I haven't been doing my job as your father as well as I thought I have. Well, that's going to change! To start with, you WILL be stepping down as editor-in-chief of the school newspaper, and you WILL turn _any_, and _all _embarrassing photographs you may have of other ponies over to Miss Cheerlie!"

"But Daaaaad!", Diamond Tiara whined.

"NO! BUTS! ABOUT IT!", her father emphasized, "And we will talk more about this when we we get home. Right now, I have some things to say to everypony, and you will be silent unless you are spoken to. Understand?"

Realizing that she had no choice, all Diamond Tiara could say was, "Yes, Daddy..."

After giving his daughter another glare just for good measure, Filthy Rich then turned to address the crowd of ponies.

"Everypony...", he began, speaking so that everypony could hear him, "On behalf of the entire Rich family, I deeply apologize to all of you for all of this trouble." Then, he turned to face Applejack, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash, "And especially to the Cutie Mark Crusaders' friends, and families." He paused, before continuing in a lower voice, "I promise you that I will do all that I can to help find them, and bring them home..."

"Much obliged, Filthy...", Granny Smith expressed her gratitude, while the others nodded in gratitude.

"Just as soon as I teach my daughter a lesson...", Filthy Rich added seriously.

Diamond Tiara visibly gulped at her father's words.

"And as soon as this is all over..." he concluded, "She WILL give everypony involved a proper apology. Am I right, Diamond Tiara?"

Ultimately, Diamond Tiara nodded. "Yes..."

"Now, let's go home.", her father said sternly.

Filthy Rich escorted his daughter through the crowd of ponies, all of whom glared at Diamond Tiara as they past by. The pink earth filly could only try not to make eye contact with anypony as her father led her to his personal taxicab; she was going to have enough to worry about soon enough.

Upon reaching the taxi, Filthy Rich practically stallionhandled Diamond Tiara inside before climbing in himself. And as the taxicab sped away, everypony could have sworn that they'd heard a series of audible smacks, and loud yelps coming from the inside.

Rainbow Dash couldn't help but grin. "Something tells me that Diamond Tiara isn't going to be able to sit down anytime soon."

"Nnnope", Big Mac agreed.

"Serves her right.", Rarity smirked.

Several from within the crowd of ponies voiced their agreement as well.

Featherweight however, still didn't very particularly good about himself due to his own involvement in all of this as staff photographer. He hesitated for a long moment, until finally, he stepped forward, and looked up at Mayor Mare.

"Featherweight...", Mayor Mare said, already suspecting the colt's intentions, "Is there something you'd like to say?"

Slowly, Featherweight nodded, and then took his place in front of the crowd of ponies.

"Everypony...", the pegasus colt began, "I...I just wanna say...that-that I...I..."

Featherweight trailed off, unable to continue as he was again struck by the shame of his own wrongdoings, as well as his fears of what everypony else would think. Sensing the pegasus colt's inner turmoil, Fluttershy stepped up to place her hoof on his shoulder to reassure him that it would be all right. Taking a deep breath, Featherweight ultimately found the courage to continue.

"I just wanna say that I am so very sorry for my part in all of this. As staff photographer, it was my job to take all of the photographs for our paper, including all of the embarrassing, and hurtful ones. But I honestly never meant for things to get so bad. I guess I just got so swept up in the hype as the popularity of the Gabby Gums column grew, and everypony in town seemed to want to read what we were printing. I know what I did was wrong, and I only hope that you can all find it to forgive me..."

The townsponies all listened to Featherweight's apology, and were touched by his words. After their harsh treatment had driven away the Cutie Mark Crusaders, they had all decided on their own that they wouldn't make the same mistake again. After Featherweight had finished, Miss Cheerlie came forward to give the pegasus colt a hug.

"Featherweight... It's okay.", the teacher said, "The fact is, we've all made mistakes, but what matters is that we take responsibility for those mistakes, and do what we can to make up for them, like you did." She sighed, and then turned to face the townsponies herself, "In fact, I owe everypony an apology to. Diamond Tiara was right: as teacher, it was my responsibility to oversee the school newspaper, and I failed to properly do that job. I'm willing to take full responsibility for all of this, and I will tender my resignation if the town so wishes."

"No, Cheerlie.", Twilight said, "It wasn't all your fault. We all should have come, and told you what was going on."

"Yeah.", Featherweight added, "And I should have told you about what Diamond Tiara was doing. But I was too scared..."

Cheerlie nodded slowly, "I know, but I still feel responsible..."

Mayor Mare put her hoof on Cheerlie's shoulder, "We've all made mistakes, Cheerlie, not just you. But they won't happen again."

"We all know yer quality.", Granny Smith assured, "You are one o' th' finest school teachers Ah have ever known, an' Ah wouldn't have anypony else in yer stead."

The townsponies all voiced their agreement with Granny Smith's statement; everypony wanted Cheerlie to stay. Touched, the purple earth pony smiled warmly in gratitude.

"But we can talk more about this later.", Mayor Mare said, her voice turning serious as she turned to face the townsponies, "Right now, we must get back to the task at hand."

Applejack nodded firmly, "That's right. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo are still missin', an' as Celestia as mah witness, we're gonna find 'em if we have ta tear apart all of Equestria!"

The townsponies were in full agreement, but many of them were still at a complete loss after the failure of yesterday's rather thorough search, and they were eager to know if anypony had a new plan.

"Well, we've all thought about that...", Twilight began, addressing the question, "And we've decided that our best course of action would be-"

Suddenly, Twilight was cut off as a commotion at the back of crowd drew everypony's attention. Somepony was pushing their way to the front.

"What is going on back there?", Mayor Mare asked.

Then, to everypony's surprise, who should emerge from the crowd, but Zecora, having run all the way to town.

"Zecora!", Twilight exclaimed, "What are you doing here?"

"Oh, thank goodness I found you all here.", the zebra mare said, breathing hard, "You all need to come with me right now, though I assure you there is nothing to fear."

"Huh? What's th-", Applejack started to ask.

Zecora quickly cut her off, "It's Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo."

For a very long moment, everypony just stared at Zecora, too stunned to speak, and certain that they'd misheard her.

Ultimately, it was Rarity who found her voice first. "What?", she gasped out hopefully.

"I have them.", Zecora said simply.

* * *

END OF PART 3


	4. Runaway Crusaders Part 4

_Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo..._

_I have left the hut for a few moments, because I know how I can help you. I should be back before the three of you wake, but if I'm not, please just stay inside until I return for your own sake. I know things have been bad for you, but I promise that this will all be over soon._

_Zecora._

For a long moment, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo just stood there, silently taking in what they'd just read. The three of them hadn't been asleep for long, and had actually woken up just as Zecora had reached Ponyville. And ultimately, it had been Apple Bloom who'd left the zebra mare's bedroom first to find the hastily written note lying directly in front of the door.

And now, as Zecora's words continued to resonate throughout their heads, the three fillies could do nothing but wonder just what the zebra mare was planning.

_...I know how I can help you...I promise that this will all be over soon... _

"What does Zecora mean?", Sweetie Belle asked.

"Where is she going?", Scootaloo added.

For a few moments, Apple Bloom remained silent, but as the seconds ticked by, the pieces of the puzzle began to come together, and the most likely answer gradually became obvious...

Zecora had clearly thought that the Crusaders should go back home, and had done her best to convince them that they're friends, and family loved them, and wouldn't want them gone. But the three fillies had been too distraught to listen to the zebra mare's advice, so Zecora had then suggested that they go into her bedroom to get some rest. And then, while the fillies had been asleep, Zecora suddenly up and left the hut, leaving behind a note saying that she knew how to help them, and telling them to stay inside until she returned...

"Ah...Ah think...", Apple Bloom started to say before trailing off.

"She went to Ponyville, didn't she?", Sweetie Belle finished for her.

Slowly, Apple Bloom nodded, "Ah think she went ta go talk ta our friends, an families..."

The three little fillies were silent for a long time as the realization fully sank in; Zecora probably thought that she could convince the Crusaders' loved ones to come for them.

"Zecora doesn't understand...", Scootaloo said at last.

Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle didn't disagree, and before long, terrible new fears began to fill the three fillies' minds...

Zecora hadn't been angry with the Crusaders for what happend, but would hearing everypony else's side of the story change that? She _had_ said earlier that she was a little disappointed by their actions. Nopony would be coming back with Zecora, the Crusaders were sure of that, but what if she came to agree with everypony else? What if she came back, and now wanted them to leave? Then another horrible possibility came to mind. By now, Diamond Tiara had certainly printed those embarrassing pictures of the Crusaders in the school paper, and for sure everypony in town had seen them. What if somepony DID come back with Zecora just to mock them in revenge for what they'd done?

Tears began to well in Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo's eyes at these terrible thoughts, for they simply could not bear to face treatment like that again...

Not again...

"So what do we do?", Sweetie Belle finally asked.

In the end, the three fillies decided that there was only thing they _could _do. So they headed back into Zecora's bedroom to get their things, for they had already made their choice.

* * *

Applejack, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Big Mac, and Granny Smith all raced through the Everfree Forest as Zecora led them on towards her hut. For the first time since this whole mess began, they were overjoyed, for they were finally going to be reunited with the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and they let that drive them on.

"Oh Zecora, how can we ever repay you?", Rarity asked.

"I assure you, my befriended...", Zecora said, "That all debts can be collected once this crisis has ended."

"Yeah. But still, we owe ya one! Boy, do we _ever _owe ya one!", Applejack said.

Big Mac couldn't agree more, "Eeyup!"

Rainbow Dash's eyes suddenly lit up, "There! I can see the hut up ahead!"

Encouraged, everypony eagerly put on speed. At last, this would all be over soon.

But then, a thought suddenly came to Applejack, and she began to slow down, before finally coming to a stop altogether. A moment later, Big Mac followed his sister's lead, and stopped running as well. Then, Rarity also gradually slowed to a halt. And finally, so did Rainbow Dash, who slowly lowered herself to the ground.

Upon realizing that Applejack, Big Mac, Rarity, and Rainbow Dash had fallen behind everypony else turned back to see the four of them standing silently in the center of the trail, and looking rather crestfallen.

"Why'd you guys stop?", Spike asked.

Concerned, Twilight stepped forward as well, "What's wrong?"

"Ah don't know.", Applejack said sadly, "It's just that... Big Mac, an' Ah wanted nothin' more than ta get Apple Bloom back, but now that we're here...". For a moment, she trailed off. "What're we gonna say ta her? We hurt our little sis so bad, an' drove her away..."

Guilt-ridden, Big Mac lowered his gaze, "Eeyup..."

"How're we supposed ta apologize fer somethin' like that?", Applejack asked, her voice filled with remorse.

"And what about me?", Rarity sniffed, "I betrayed Sweetie Belle as a sister. How can I ever face her?"

"Tell me about...", an ashamed Rainbow Dash put in, "Scootaloo looked up to me, believed in me, and I let her down. I want more than anything than to make things right with her, but she probably wouldn't even speak to me now."

Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike all bowed their heads in regret as their friends' words sunk in, and they were once again reminded of their own wrongdoings.

The truth was, ever since they'd left Ponyville, everypony couldn't help but wonder why Zecora had not simply brought the Crusaders back herself, but nopony had bothered to ask, because deep down, they already knew the answer. It was because Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo probably didn't WANT to come home. And after everything that had happend, who could blame them?

But then, Granny Smith stepped forward, "Everypony, I want y'all ta look at me."

Ultimately, everypony obeyed, and met the elderly earth pony's gaze.

"Are y'all sorry fer what ya did?", she asked.

"Yes!", Applejack said, "Big Mac, an' Ah are more sorry than we've been about anythin' in our entire lives!"

"Eeyup...", Big Mac confirmed.

Rarity couldn't agree more, "So am I."

"Me to.", Rainbow Dash added.

Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Spike all nodded.

"Then y'all need ta let Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo know that.", Granny Smith said firmly, "Or else y'all are never gonna make things right!"

"Yes! Yes! Listen to Granny Smith!", Zecora agreed, "I know what you all fear, and it is true. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo are afraid to come home to you. They believe that they are no longer wanted, but that is exactly why you must go to them undaunted. You must let them KNOW that you love them, and that you DO want them back."

That last sentence caught everypony off guard, for Zecora had spoken it without her usual rhymes, something VERY out of character for her. If Zecora wasn't speaking in rhyme, then she must REALLY be serious.

For a long moment, nopony spoke; they all just stood there, silently pondering what Granny Smith, and Zecora had said. At last, Applejack straightened back up, a new look of determination spreading across her face.

"C'mon, y'all. Let's do this.", the earth pony said without a trace of doubt in her voice.

With their friend's voice filling them with a new sense of purpose, everypony quickly continued on their way. A short time later, they all arrived at Zecora's hut.

However, before anypony could enter, Zecora quickly planted herself before the front door.

"Wait, everypony.", the zebra mare said, "Let us not be hasty, and approach this gently."

After a moment of pause, everypony nodded. Zecora had a point; they didn't want to scare the three little fillies. And so, the zebra mare slowly opened the door, and everypony quietly gathered inside the main chamber of the hut.

"Everypony just wait out here.", Zecora instructed as she headed towards her bedroom where she'd left the Crusaders, "Let me assure them that there is nothing to fear."

Everypony obediently did as Zecora asked, and only watched in silent anticipation as the zebra mare gently opened her bedroom door, and went inside.

"Apple Bloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?", they heard Zecora call out.

As the seconds slowly, and silently ticked by, everypony suddenly began to get an uneasy feeling. What was going on in there?

Suddenly, they heard a loud gasp come from inside the bedroom. Alarmed, everypony forgot Zecora's instructions to wait outside, and rushed into the bedroom to find the zebra mare standing before her bed, looking down at something she held in her hooves.

"Zecora! What is it?", Rarity inquired.

Slowly, Zecora turned to face everypony, and showed them what she'd found lying on her bed. It was a note, and this is what it said:

_Dear Zecora,_

_Thank you so much for taking us in. If it weren't for you, we would still be lost out there. We know that you want to help us, but there is just nothing you can do. _

_We know that you've gone to Ponyville to talk to our friends, and families, but we already know that it's no use. You just don't understand how bad things are, but maybe you will you once you've seen it all for yourself. Honestly, you might even agree with everypony else after hearing their side of the story. And that is why the three of us have decided that it's probably best for all of us if we just left. _

_Please don't worry about us, we aren't lost anymore. Goodbye, and thanks for everything._

_Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo._

* * *

Not only were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo gone, but everypony had missed them by only a few scant minutes. In fact, at that very moment, the three little fillies were barely a mile away from the hut, but neither they nor their friends, and family had any way of knowing that. The only thing the Crusaders knew was that they needed to keep moving as Apple Bloom once again led her friends on.

"Sweetie Belle, what wrong?", Scootaloo suddenly asked.

Apple Bloom stopped, and turned around to see Sweetie Belle facing back the way they'd come.

"I don't know...", the unicorn filly said, "I've just got this weird feeling... Like something's telling me that...we should go back..."

Apple Bloom sighed, "We can't go back, Sweetie Belle. Ya know that..."

"I know, I know...", Sweetie Belle conceded, "I just... I don't know..."

Neither Apple Bloom nor Scootaloo could really blame their friend for having doubts. It had felt terrible to just leave Zecora's hut like that, but there hadn't been any other choice. Finally, Scootaloo walked up to Sweetie Belle, and placed a hoof on her shoulder.

"Apple Bloom's right, Sweetie Belle.", the pegasus filly said, "It's better this way."

Ultimately, Sweetie Belle nodded, and fell back into step.

The three fillies continued on their way into the forest for a few more minutes, until Scootaloo spoke up again.

"So Apple Bloom. Where exactly are we going now?", she asked.

The question made Apple Bloom suddenly stop dead in her tracks, and she was silent for a very long moment until finally...

"Ah'm not sure...", she said at last.

Scootaloo stared at her, "What?!"

Apple Bloom fumbled her words, "Well, uh, Ah..."

"You mean you don't even have a plan?" an incredulous Scootaloo asked.

"Well, it's just that...", the yellow earth filly stammered, "Ah never really thought about it 'til just now."

"Oh, you've gotta be kidding!", Scootaloo cried, "This is just great! Here we are, stuck in the middle of the Everfree Forest with no idea where we're going AGAIN!"

Then Sweetie Belle stepped up, "Why didn't we just take the trail in front of Zecora's house? You know, the one that leads back to Pony...ville..." She trailed off just as the answer hit her.

Apple Bloom rolled her eyes, "Why do ya THINK we didn't take it?"

"Oh, yeah...", Sweetie Belle flushed.

It was only now that it finally hit the Crusaders that their decision to leave Zecora's hut had not been well thought out. Unable to take the trail that lead back to Ponyville, the three fillies had rather impulsively just headed out into the forest again, only to now realize that this essentially left them right back to where they started.

"Well, what do we do now, Apple Bloom?", Scootaloo asked, "We can't just wander around in circles for the rest of our lives!"

Apple Bloom sighed, "Okay...okay... Lemme think, lemme think..."

But there wouldn't be much time to think, for little did the Crusaders know, they were being watched...

* * *

Hidden in the forest foliage a short distance away, a pair of large glowing green eyes were intently observing the three little fillies. The Timberwolf suddenly recalled a moment from the previous day when it had been wandering through the forest, and had suddenly caught an unusual scent in the air, but was unable to find the source, and forced to move on.

But now, the huge creature finally realized just what that scent had been, and as it continued to watch the unsuspecting fillies, it could think of only one thing:

Easy prey.

And this time, there wouldn't be any time, or any place for the fillies to hide...

* * *

For a few moments, the Crusaders just stood there silently, trying to figure out their next move. But then, Sweetie Belle looked up in alarm as she suddenly noticed a strong, unpleasant odor in the air, and she began to tremble uncontrollably, her eyes widening with terror, as she realized what that smell was.

"Sweetie Belle?", Apple Bloom inquired, noticing her friend's distress.

"What's wro-", Scootaloo started to ask.

But then, both fillies froze in place as the smell suddenly hit their nostrils as well. Sweetie Belle instinctively began to scan their surroundings, until her gaze suddenly came to rest on a spot in the foliage some distance away where she could just make out two glowing objects, which she realized to her horror were a pair of eyes. Then, the Timberwolf let out a low, menacing growl.

"Run...! Girls, RUN!", Sweetie Belle screamed.

Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo didn't even ask, for there was absolutely no need to. All three fillies took off into woods in a blind panic. They ran with no sense of direction, stumbling over tree roots, scrambling past rocks, or tree limbs, and unable to think of anything but the desperate need to get AWAY.

Behind them, the Crusaders could hear the sound of thundering hoofsteps crashing through underbrush after them; the Timberwolf was coming...

Out of pure instinct, and against all rational thought, the three little fillies risked a look behind them...

And SCREAMED...

* * *

"APPLE BLOOM!" SWEETIE BELLE! SCOOTALOO!", Applejack, Rarity, & Rainbow Dash desperately called out into the forest.

Now gathered outside Zecora's hut, everypony else all took up the call as well, but it soon became clear that it was useless, for they were only answered with echoes.

Overwhelmed with anguish, Applejack all but collapsed into Big Mac, and Granny Smith's hooves.

"NO! This ain't happenin'!", the cowpony wailed, "Big Mac! Granny Smith! PLEASE TELL ME THIS AIN'T HAPPENIN'!"

Her brother, and grandmother however, could think of nothing to say, as they were just as devastated by this turn of events as she was. To have been so close to reuniting with Apple Bloom, and her friends only to have that hope suddenly snatched away from them was nothing short of shattering.

"No...no...no...no...", a tearful Rarity said in uncharacteristically quiet sorrow, "Not again... They CAN'T be gone _again_...!"

Rainbow Dash broke down in tears, "I KNEW it! They don't want to see us! And they ran away again!"

Zecora hung her head in utter failure, "I am sorry, my friends... I am so sorry... I never should have left them... I thought...I thought..."

Everypony was at an utter loss for words, and on the verge of tears. Twilight, however, quickly wiped away the salty water that was welling in her eyes, and tried to recompose herself.

"It's not your fault, Zecora.", the lavender unicorn insisted, "You were just trying to help all of us." She paused to choke back more tears, "But we can't just stand here, you guys! We've got to find them while there's still time!"

"But how, Twilight? We don't have any idea which way they went!", Spike pointed out.

"They could be anywhere out there, Twilight!", Big Mac agreed, slowly shaking his head, "Like tryin' ta find a needle in a haystack...!"

"Yeah! We're pretty much right back to where we started!", Rainbow Dash said through her tears.

Twilight began to falter; their statements weren't exactly wrong...

"We'll never find them...", Rarity sniffed, "They are gone forever!"

At that moment, Granny Smith stepped up, forcing her own fear, and disappointment down. Once again, she knew she had to take charge, just as she had when this whole thing began.

"Everypony calm down! Twilight's right! They can't have gone too far! We gotta-"

"That's what ya said last time, Granny!", Applejack protested, "An' just look where that's got us!"

Granny Smith glared at her granddaughter, and raised her hoof. "Do Ah need ta slap some sense inta ya again, young lady?"

Suddenly, Pinkie Pie, and Fluttershy began to shout, trying to get everypony's attention.

"Hey! Everypony!", Pinkie Pie yelled.

"Quiet! Listen!", Fluttershy added.

The two ponies had heard something off in the distance, and at their alert, everypony quieted down, and listened. For a moment, there was only silence, but then, from somewhere out in the forest, there came the sound of distant screams.

Everypony froze as they realized what they were hearing.

"Where's that coming from?", Twilight finally asked.

Before anypony could answer, another scream pierced through the forest.

"_HELP_!"

Applejack's heart leapt into her throat. "That was Apple Bloom!"

"This way!", Rainbow Dash shouted, pointing into the forest, "Come on!"

* * *

Everypony immediately took off in the general direction of the screams. Any relief that they might have felt at the knowledge that the Crusaders were nearby was drowned out by the realization that the three fillies had to be in danger. Everypony put on as much speed as they could muster, praying that whatever was happening, they wouldn't be too late.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo ran through the forest as fast as their little hooves could possibly carry them. All the while, the three terrified fillies could hear the fierce barking, and growling of the Timberwolf right behind them; the huge creature was breathing down their necks.

But they would NOT risk another look behind them.

They COULD NOT stop.

Then, up ahead, they could see a large briar patch with a gap near the bottom that was just big enough for the three little fillies to fit through.

Somehow willing themselves to go faster, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo actually heard the loud _snap _of the Timberwolf's powerful jaws behind them as they all dived one after the other through the gap in the bottom of the thorn bush. Unable to stop itself, the Timberwolf ran headfirst into the thorns while the Crusaders exited out the other side without a scratch.

The huge creature snarled viciously as it jerked itself free, and struggled to brush off the thorn vines entangling it's head with it's paws.

"Don't stop! Keep going!", Sweetie Belle urged her friends, knowing that the Timberwolf wouldn't be kept busy for long.

The Crusaders ran on; they were sure that this was their chance to escape, or at least to find somewhere safe. Eventually, they rounded a corner, their little hearts pounding...and then sinking as they found their path blocked by a towering cliff face. Skidding to a stop, the three fillies frantically looked around, desperately hoping to find another way out, but the huge rock wall snaked around, closing off any other route of escape.

"Oh, no...!", Apple Bloom breathed.

"We're trapped!", Scootaloo cried.

And then, from behind them, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo could hear the Timberwolf's massive hoofsteps approaching...

In a last desperate effort, the Crusaders actually tried to scale the cliff wall, with Scootaloo even flapping her ineffective wings in the hope that it would at least give her an extra boost. But it was futile, as they just couldn't get a good enough grip on the cliff wall, and Scootaloo's wings simply could not carry her weight. In the end, there was no choice but to give up, and face the predator that was closing in.

The Timberwolf was there, standing only a short distance away. It was taking it's time, knowing that the fillies had nowhere left to run, and staring at them with cold, calculating eyes. Gripped by terror, there was nothing that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo could do but huddle together, trembling, and whimpering uncontrollably.

Tears of fear, and self-condemnation flowed down their cheeks. What had they been thinking? Why did they ever leave Zecora's hut? Whatever they'd been afraid to face if they'd stayed there would've been nothing compared to this.

The Timberwolf menacingly opened it's jaws as it came closer, revealing it's sharp fangs. As the huge creature's hot breath washed over them, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo closed their eyes, unable to face the horror before them, and trying to convince themselves that this wasn't really happening. That this was all just a bad dream, and that they'd soon wake up safe back in Zecora's bed.

But if they didn't...

* * *

Hearts pounding, everypony raced through the forest, first heading in the general direction the Crusaders' screams until a second sound made itself known, a sound which everypony recognized as the fierce barks of a Timberwolf. The implications of this fact were alarming to say the very least, and a cold, horrifying dread spread throughout the group at the realization of what must be happening.

"Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!", Applejack, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Rarity, & Rainbow Dash all called out frantically.

There was no response, and they were just about to call out again when suddenly...

"Everypony stop!", Zecora shouted. "Look!"

As everypony skidded to a halt, the zebra mare pointed to a trail of trampled underbrush, and a set of very large tracks in the dirt. There was no question, they were the tracks of a Timberwolf all right.

"This way! Follow th' trail!", Granny Smith instructed.

The next few moments were nothing short of a mad dash as everypony knew now that they were in a race against time.

If they didn't make... If they were too late...

Refusing to slow down, they all ran on, through the thick woods, past a large thorn bush, around a corner of trees...

And once again, everypony skidded to a stop at the sight that met their eyes...

The Timberwolf was right there, standing only a short distance away with it's back to them. And there, trapped by the cliff wall, and cowering in terror before the huge creature were Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo. But any joy that their families, and friends might have felt at having found them at last was drowned out by the horrifying reality that the three little fillies were about to become lunch for a Timberwolf.

Ultimately, it was Applejack who made the first move; she had failed to be there for her little sister once, and she was NOT going to fail her again. Quick as a flash, the orange earth pony picked up a large rock, and bucked it as hard as she could at the Timberwolf, striking the huge creature in the head with a loud _thunk_.

Forgetting about the three little fillies, the Timberwolf shook it's head before turning to face it's attacker. At the same time, the Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo opened their eyes, and were somewhat stunned when they looked up to see their friends, and loved ones standing there. They... They had really come for them?

"GIT! AWAY! FROM THEM!", Applejack roared.

Big Mac was at her side in an instant, "Redwood varmint!"

"Or you'll deal with us!", Rainbow Dash fiercely joined in.

"That's right!", Twilight stepped up with Spike, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Zecora right behind her.

Then came Granny Smith. "Boy, did YOU pick th' wrong fillies ta go after!", the elderly earth pony asserted as she took her place beside Applejack, and Big Mac.

"Fighting is not really my thing, I'm more into fashion...", Rarity casually brushed her mane back before taking her place with the others, and viciously screaming, "BUT I'LL RIP YOU TO PIECES IF YOU TOUCH ONE STRAND OF MANE ON THEIR SWEET LITTLE HEADS!"

The Timberwolf snarled defiantly, and started to advance on the group of ponies.

"Fluttershy, let 'im have it!", Applejack called.

At her friend's signal, the yellow pegasus unleashed "The Stare" on the Timberwolf. The huge creature froze in place, until finally, it began to whine, and shrink backwards.

"Apple Bloom! Sweetie Belle! Scootaloo!", Granny Smith called to the three fillies, "Now's yer chance! Come ta us, girls!"

For a moment, the Crusaders understandably hesitated, but then slowly began to make their way past the incapacitated Timberwolf, and over to their friends, and family. As the three fillies drew near, Granny Smith, and Rarity quickly gathered Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle in their hooves, while Rainbow Dash nudged Scootaloo to get behind her.

For a brief moment, everypony was overjoyed. After so much pain, worry, and regret, they had finally found Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo. Soon everypony would be safe back home, and perhaps everything would finally be okay.

But then, Fluttershy suddenly let out a loud gasp of horror, causing everyone to look up in alarm, and it quickly became apparent that their feelings of relief had been a little premature.

Several more Timberwolves had appeared at the top of the cliff, and even as that fact fully sunk in, the huge beasts proceeded to leap down to join the first, which quickly shook off the effects of "The Stare", and took it's place at the head of the pack. The Timberwolves growled viciously; now they were ANGRY, and suddenly, everypony was starting to get a little scared...

"N-N-nice doggies... Now, st-stay...", Fluttershy stammered to no avail as her resolve crumbled.

"Wh-Wha-What do we do now?", Spike asked.

Applejack gulped, "I...uh...think it's high time we all got th' heck outta here..."

"That would be wise...", Zecora concurred.

"I wh-wholeheartedly a-agree...", Rarity's voice trembled.

"Eeyup...", Big Mac put in.

Everypony else hastily voiced their agreement as well.

Well... _Almost_ everypony else...

"_Run away_? That's not my style...", Rainbow Dash insisted, but even she didn't sound totally convinced by her own words.

"Think of it as a tactical retreat.", Twilight urged.

With that, everypony else began to hightail it back the way they came, leaving Rainbow Dash alone to face the Timberwolves. For a brief moment, the sky blue pegasus stood her ground against the advancing pack, until at last...

"Tactical retreat...", she said to herself, "Yeah, I can live with that."

Having finally lost her nerve, Rainbow Dash promptly about-faced, and soared after her friends.

The group consisting of the Mane Six, Spike, Big Mac, Granny Smith, Zecora, and now the Cutie Mark Crusaders fled back through the forest with the Timberwolf pack in hot pursuit. The piercing barks, and snarls of the pursuing beasts urged everypony on, but the Timberwolves were brutally fast, and rapidly gaining on them. It also suddenly hit everypony that they couldn't just head back to Zecora's hut, as they'd just be leading the Timberwolves right to it. And that was assuming that they'd even have time to find the way back to Zecora's hut in the first place.

Twilight's teleportation spell was their only chance, and the lavender unicorn knew it. But she felt daunted by the required task; teleporting the entire group all the way out of the Everfree Forest would require a lot of power, skill, and concentration. Twilight didn't know if she could do it alone. She needed help, and turned to the only other unicorn mare in the group.

"Rarity, help me!", Twilight called to the white unicorn.

Understanding her friend's intentions, Rarity nodded. As the two unicorns began to power up their horns, Twilight snuck a look behind them to see two more Timberwolves join the hunt, and that the pack was getting dangerously close. They had perhaps a few seconds...

As the two unicorns combined their magic, the forest suddenly lit up in blinding flash of blue/purple light as the entire group was finally teleported away. Blinded by the flash, the Timberwolf pack proceeded to crash directly into the trees before ultimately collapsing in a heap wooden limbs.

With a brilliant flash of blue/purple light, everypony reappeared just outside the Everfree Forest. Winded from using so much magic to teleport the whole group like that, Twilight and Rarity both tumbled to the ground as everypony brought themselves to a stop.

"Muh-My...", Rarity panted, "That was close..."

"Is...is everyone all right?", Twilight asked as the two unicorns slowly pushed themselves back to their hooves.

Zecora nodded, "I think so."

As everypony gathered their bearings, all attention was promptly turned to Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo. It was the moment that everypony had been praying for since this whole mess began. The three fillies were okay, and they had gotten them back at last...

But for a long moment, everypony was at a loss for words, for it was all so much to take in. Now that they were all standing face to face again, the Crusaders, and their loved ones were inevitably reminded of the last time they had seen each other, and the painful circumstances of how they had parted.

All of the hurt...all of the regret...all of the shame... All of it came rushing back at once, and within seconds, everypony was overcome with emotion.

Bursting into tears, Applejack threw her hooves around her little sister so tightly that it seemed as though she'd never let go. "Oh, Apple Bloom! Oh, thank Celestia...! Th-thank... You're... Ah..."

"A-Applejack...", Apple Bloom choked out.

"Oh, lil' sis...", Applejack wept, "Ah'm sorry...! Ah'm _SO SORRY_!"

Tears welling in his own eyes, Big Mac joined the embrace, wrapping his own hooves around his two sisters. "W-We...we thought we'd never...", he began, but ultimately found himself unable to continue.

"Sweetie Belle!", a crying Rarity gasped out as she hugged her own little sister, "Oh my gosh, you're all right! I was so afraid! I was going _crazy_! I was...I was...!"

Sweetie Belle opened her mouth to reply, but found that she was just too choked up to speak.

For a long moment, Rainbow Dash, and Scootaloo could only stare at one another, for neither was sure of what to say. Tears of shame welled in Rainbow Dash's eyes as she remorsefully gazed down at her self-proclaimed biggest fan, whose own eyes betrayed a look of sadness, confusion, and even a touch of bitterness.

"Scoot, I...I...", Rainbow Dash sniffed as she held the little filly's gaze, "_I'm sorry_... I-I-I just don't know what else to say. I'm _so sorry_ for what I did... I don't know if I can ever make it up to you, but I... I just...I just wanted to let you know that... I j-just..."

At last, Scootaloo slowly lowered her gaze, and began to cry; it was all just too much for her. Rainbow Dash immediately stepped forward to hug the pegasus filly, and after a brief moment of hesitation, Scootaloo ultimately returned the hug as she sobbed into Rainbow's chest.

Before long, everypony else had gathered around, coming together in group embrace. The Crusaders almost couldn't believe it. Zecora had been right all along...

At last, Sweetie Belle found her voice, and tearfully looked up at them, genuinely surprised. "You... You came back for us..."

"_Of course we came back_...", Twilight said, overcome with emotion, "We were so worried... We couldn't just let you... Oh girls, we should have... If only we'd..."

"B-But w-we... We thought y'all hated us, an' wanted us ta go away forever...", Apple Bloom sobbed.

"No, Apple Bloom...", Applejack insisted, "There ain't NOTHIN' that could EVER make us hate you..."

"Nnnope...", Big Mac choked out, "An' there ain't NOTHIN' that could EVER make us want you ta go away forever..."

"Nothin' in all th' world...", Granny Smith confirmed.

Rarity sniffed, "We love you... And w-we want you back... We want you to come home..."

"B-But...But what about Gabby Gums?", Sweetie Belle protested, "What about all that we've..."

"We know about Diamond Tiara, girls...", Twilight said quickly.

Scootaloo looked up, "You... You do?"

"We know that she was blackmailing you...", Rainbow Dash joined, "Everypony in town knows..."

"Featherweight told us everything.", Fluttershy stepped up.

"Featherweight...?", all three fillies asked, stunned.

Fluttershy nodded, "When he heard that you'd run away, he felt awful about what he'd done, and wanted to make things right. So he...he came, and told us the truth..."

"H-He... He really did that?", Apple Bloom asked.

"Yes. Everypony knows the truth now. ", Twilight assured, "We all know that it wasn't your fault."

For a moment, the Crusaders seemed hopeful at this news, but their expressions quickly turned somber again.

"But it _was _our fault...", Sweetie Belle said sadly, "WE started the Gabby Gums Column in the first place. We wrote those embarrassing, and hurtful stories even _before _Diamond Tiara blackmailed us. And all because we wanted our stupid cutie marks so badly that we never even stopped to think about other ponies' feelings..."

"No, Sweetie...", Rarity reassured, "We're _all_ to blame. _I _was the one who encouraged you to start the gossip column, remember? And I was all for it even though I knew that it was spreading hurtful gossip..."

"We all were.", Applejack confirmed, "Gabby Gums never even woulda got as far as it did if it weren't fer all o' us likin' it so much. We only decided it was bad when th' joke was on us..."

Twilight spoke up, "What's worse, nopony ever tried to actually DO anything about it. I was against Gabby Gums from the start, but not even I ever bothered to go to Miss Cheerlie or _anything_... All we did was unfairly treat you three like social outcasts..."

Spike stepped forward, tears of remorse welling in his eyes, "We should've listened to you. But we didn't even give you a chance to explain."

"We were all so mean...", Pinkie Pie said sadly.

Rainbow Dash sighed in regret, "Yeah, and not only that, but I basically ASKED for a story to be written about me. And what do I do when I get it? I turn around, and dump a raincloud on the three of you like a bully...". She paused, before looking Scootaloo in the eye, "Some hero I turned out to be..."

Blinking back tears, Scootaloo sadly lowered her gaze. "That really hurt...", she choked out.

"_I'm sorry_...", Rainbow Dash apologized again, "I was just...just so angry. But that's no excuse for what I did, and I honestly don't blame you if you don't want to be my #1 fan anymore..."

Scootaloo looked back up, still upset, but also touched by Rainbow Dash's sincere regret.

"It was still stupid an' wrong of us ta write those stories...", Apple Bloom sighed, "But we never wanted ta write anymore after we realized how much pain we'd caused everypony..."

"We know ya didn't, sis.", Big Mac assured, "Diamond Tiara forced y'all ta keep doin' it. We shoulda known all along that y'all never meant ta hurt us on purpose."

"Please, don't apologize...", Twilight insisted, "We've already forgiven you. You three deserve all the forgiveness in Equestria. We're sorry we couldn't let you know that sooner, and... And we're all truly sorry for being so harsh on you. Everypony back home is to..."

Applejack nodded sadly, "We had no right ta treat y'all like that, even if ya did make a mistake. It was wrong, real wrong, an' there ain't nothin' we can do ta take it back. All we can do is ask fer yer forgiveness..."

For a long moment, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo were silent as it all sank in. Their friends, and loved ones forgave them, were asking for _their_ forgiveness, and wanted them to come home. The three fillies didn't know what to say, but they could also feel all of the hurt, shame, and bitterness of the past two days slowly, but surely begin to fade away.

"Please...", Rarity implored, "Even if you can't forgive us, will you at least come home...where it's safe...?"

Ultimately, after a final moment of hesitation, the Crusaders stepped forward to embrace their siblings, and idol respectively.

"Yes...! Thank you!", Sweetie Belle burst out, "Thank you...!"

"We do want to go home...!", Scootaloo sobbed.

"And we _do _forgive you!", Apple Bloom sniffed, "All of you!"

Within moments, tears of joy, relief, and gratitude were streaming down everypony's cheeks. After so much pain, their hearts were finally begining to heal, and be made whole once again.

Standing a few feet away, Zecora smiled warmly at the joyful scene playing out before her. She'd remained silent all this time, not wanting to disturb this special moment everypony was sharing. She was just happy that the Crusaders were safe, and that all had turned out all right, just as she'd told them earlier.

"Oh girls, we missed you so much.", Twilight said at last.

"Darn tootin' we did...", Granny Smith agreed.

"We missed y'all to!", Apple Bloom sniffed, "We-we're sorry we ran away! We didn't mean ta worry y'all so bad!". She then turned to Zecora, "An' Zecora, you were right. We shoulda listened ta ya, an' we never shoulda left th' hut like that!"

Zecora smiled reassuringly, "It's all right, my little friend. It all turned out right in the end."

"Still, it was stupid!", the earth filly said through tears, "W-we were ju-just so... We th-thought..."

"Shhhh...", Applejack hushed her little sister, "It's okay. It's over. You're safe now. Just remember that y'all never have ta do anything like that again, 'cause no matter what happens, no matter how bad things may get, you'll be in our hearts...from this day on, now an' forevermore..."

Rarity nodded, "Yes... No matter what they say...you'll be here in our hearts... Always..."

These warm, loving words melted the last vestiges of the cold emptiness that everypony had been feeling ever since this whole mess began, and for a long moment, the Crusaders, their friends, and their family all stood there, nuzzling one another lovingly, and forgivingly...

Until finally...

"Okay, everypony...", Fluttershy said at last, "Whaddya say we head home?"

"Yes, that's sounds wonderful.", Sweetie Belle nodded eagerly.

Twilight smiled, "Yes, everypony will be so happy to see you."

"But wait, wait...", Scootaloo suddenly had a thought, "What...what about Diamond Tiara?"

Granny Smith quickly answered, "Oh, she's been taken care of. Y'all don't have ta worry about her no more. Her days as chief editor o' th' school paper are done fer good."

"Yeah.", Rainbow Dash grinned, "And judging from what we heard, her flank is probably gonna be sore for awhile."

The Crusaders couldn't help but smile a little at the thought.

"Well, come on then. Let's get y'all home...", Granny Smith said gently.

Everypony nodded in full agreement, and with that, they all began to make their way back to Ponyville, ready to start anew, and feeling happier than they'd felt in what seemed like ages. For at last, after so much pain, fear, regret, and worry, the nightmare was finally over.

* * *

It was a joyous homecoming. As the group made their return to Ponyville, they found the whole town eagerly waiting for them, for everypony had gathered to see the safe return of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Several townsponies, including Berry Punch, Mr. & Mrs. Cake, and Derpy came out of the crowd to personally greet the Crusaders, and to express their regrets, as well as their relief. Several of Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo's classmates also came forward, glad to see that they were okay.

Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo could barely contain themselves at this massive show of joy, and affection from the whole town. For the longest time, they'd been afraid to come home, feeling that they could never face everypony again after all that had happend. But now, they knew that they had been wrong. It was just as their friends, and loved ones had said. Everypony in town was sorry for what they'd done, and were so happy to have them back.

It was all true...

Suddenly, the Crusaders stopped in their tracks, and looked down to see Fluttershy's bunny Angel standing before them, the small white rabbit having hopped all the way from Fluttershy's cottage to see their safe return.

"Oh. Angel...", Sweetie Belle said.

For a moment, Angel looked up at the three fillies with a look of deep regret etched on his face, clearly ashamed of his previous behavior. He never should have slammed his owner's door in their faces. If only he'd known the truth...

Angel sadly began to lower his gaze, when to his surprise, Sweetie Belle smiled, and reached out to pet him, with Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo quickly following suit to let the small white bunny know that they forgave him.

Touched, Angel smiled back in gratitude.

Next out of the crowd of ponies came Scootaloo's aunts, Holiday and Lofty, joyfully calling for their beloved niece. Overjoyed at the sight of her aunts, Scootaloo instantly ran to them, and the two mares lovingly gathered her in their hooves.

Rainbow Dash however, began to feel bad about herself again as she watched this happy reunion. She could only imagine what Holiday and Lofty had gone through since this whole mess began, worried sick, and terribly afraid that something horrible would happen to their niece...

Rainbow Dash sighed, ashamed. But then, to her surprise, Holiday and Lofty walked up to her, smiling reassuringly.

"Thank you, Rainbow Dash. Thank you for bringing back our Scootaloo.", Holiday and Lofty said respectively.

Shocked, Rainbow Dash didn't know what to say. She thought Scootaloo's aunts would be furious with her for her part in all of this. But instead, they seemed to just be happy to have their niece back, and were grateful to Rainbow Dash for bringing her home in spite of everything that had happend. All was forgiven...

Then, the sky blue pegasus suddenly remembered something...

"Hey, Scoot?", she said, holding something out to the pegasus filly, "I thought you might want this back."

As Scootaloo reached out to take the item, she was surprised to see that it was the picture she and Rainbow Dash had taken together at Sugarcube Corner, and that all of the marker she'd scribbled over it had been completely cleaned off. In the end, Scootaloo looked up at Rainbow Dash, and beamed, her whole face lighting up in a sweet, joyful smile.

"So...", Rainbow Dash began, "...does this mean we're cool?"

"Yes!", Scootaloo said simply as she came forward to hug her redeemed idol, and for a moment, the two of them just held one another in their hooves, their friendship fully repaired.

Then, somepony else put a hoof on Rainbow's shoulder, and the sky blue pegasus was caught off guard when she turned to see that it was none other than Rainbow Blaze. Her mentor, who had earlier told her off for her treatment of the CMC, now smiled proudly at her, all of his previous disappointment gone.

"You did good, Dash.", the pegasus stallion said simply, "I knew you could do it."

Rainbow Dash had no words, but she felt as though she were positively GLOWING.

It was then that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo noticed Featherweight making his way towards them. The pegasus colt seemed happy to see them back, but at the same time, his face also betrayed a look of guilt for his previous actions.

Apple Bloom was the first to speak, "Oh, Featherweight..."

"Hey...", the pegasus colt said uneasily.

"Hey.", replied both Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo.

For a long moment, Featherweight lowered his gaze, and was silent as he tried to find the right words. Finally, he looked back up, his face swimming with apology...

"Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, Scootaloo, I... I'm really sorry...", he said, trying very hard to look them in the eye, "I never should've given those embarrassing pictures of you to Diamond Tiara. You wanted to stop the gossip column... You knew that we were going too far... You were right. And if it wasn't for me, Diamond Tiara would never have been able to blackmail you, and none of this would've happend..."

Apple Bloom placed a hoof on Featherweight's shoulder. "It's okay, Featherweight. Ya did th' right thing in th' end."

"Yes, you told everypony the truth. Fluttershy told us.", Sweetie Belle put in.

"I had to fess up... I just couldn't live with the guilt.", Featherweight sighed, "And even then I almost backed out..."

"Believe me, we know what it's like to be afraid to face the music.", Scootaloo assured.

Featherweight felt hopeful. "Then does...does that mean you...?", he started to say.

Before the pegasus colt could finish, the Crusaders all stepped forward to hug him.

"Of course we forgive ya, Featherweight. Yeah, we ALL messed up. You're still our friend.", Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle said respectively.

"Thank you...", the pegasus colt breathed, looking as though he was about to weep from happiness, "I'm... I'm so glad you're back..."

A short distance away, Cheerlie, and Mayor Mare smiled at the scene, for it warmed their hearts not only to see the Crusaders back safe, and sound, but also to see them make up with Featherweight after so much pain, and anguish. Not wanting to spoil the moment, the two mares waited until the children had finished their embrace before making their way towards them.

The Crusaders happily rushed forward to hug their teacher. "Miss Cheerlie!"

"Oh, girls...", Cheerlie happily returned the embrace, "Thank goodness you're safe."

Mayor Mare couldn't agree more, "We were all so worried; we thought we'd lost you..."

"We're sorry, Miss Mayor...", Apple Bloom apologized.

"Yeah, we never meant ta cause so much trouble...", Scootaloo added.

Mayor Mare smiled reassuringly, "No, girls; there is nothing to forgive. We _all _made terrible mistakes, and we're _all_ very sorry, but I, and all of Ponyville hope that it's still possible for us to put this whole thing behind us, and start anew."

"We'd like that, Miss Mayor. We'd like that very much.", Sweetie Belle nodded happily.

"Good. I'm glad.", Mayor Mare said, stepping up to hug the Crusaders.

"As am I.", came Zecora's voice a moment later as the zebra shaman walked up to them.

"Oh, Zecora...", Cheerlie addressed, "We are all forever indebted to you. I honestly don't know what we would've done if you hadn't found the girls."

"There is no need for praise...", Zecora assured, "For it is enough to see that they are no longer runaways."

"Nevertheless, you have our deepest gratitude."," Mayor Mare said, "And to think that we were all once foolish enough to be afraid of you."

"A mistake nopony'll ever make again.", Granny Smith declared as she, and the rest of the Crusaders' friends, and family came forward.

Zecora smiled, and Apple Bloom didn't think she'd ever seen her friend so happy. In fact, she didn't think she'd ever seen _everypony _so happy, nor for that matter, had she, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo ever _felt _so happy. After what had probably been the worst time of their lives, here they were, back home safe, and sound with their friends, and family, with no more hard feelings between anypony. It was almost too good to be true.

"Oh, everypony...", Apple Bloom said at last, "W-we thought we'd never come home again. But...but we were wrong, an' we've never been so happy ta be wrong. We're...we're home..."

"And you're all here...", Sweetie Belle added, "And we're never gonna leave here ever again."

"Never, ever again. Because we love you all.", Scootaloo concurred.

"More than _anythin_'...", Apple Bloom asserted.

Applejack smiled warmly, "So do we, an' we always will. An' we promise that we'll never, ever let y'all go..."

"Not ever again...", Rarity assured.

Nopony else could possibly have agreed more. Then, after of a long moment of silent affection from everypony, Twilight walked up the Crusaders.

Uh, girls...", the lavender unicorn began, "Would the three of you like to come to the library for a moment? I think there's somepony who might like to hear about what you've... No. What we've ALL learned."

The three little fillies only smiled, and nodded before saying together, "Yes, Twilight..."

And before long, a group consisting of the Cutie Mark Crusaders, the Mane Six, Spike, Big Mac, and Granny Smith had gathered inside the Golden Oak Library. As Spike dutifully fetched a pen, and paper, everypony sat in circle in preparation to begin the latest friendship to Princess Celestia. And the first to involve the Cutie Mark Crusaders as a whole.

"Are you ready?", Twilight asked the Crusaders once everypony was settled.

The three fillies simply smiled, and nodded, and that was all that was required.

"_Dear Princess Celestia...", _Twilight began, "_So much has happend these past few days, and it's been a rather distressing, and scary time for us all, but thankfully, all has turned out well in end, and we've all learned some very important lessons..._"

Sweetie Belle went first, "_Sometimes, when you make a mistake, it hurts...". _

"_And not just you, but also the ones you care about..._", Rarity continued.

_"But running away from your mistakes ain't th' answer..." _added Apple Bloom.

Applejack spoke up, "_And lashin' out at, or ignorin' somepony fer their mistakes won't solve nothin' neither..."_

"_If anythin'_, _it only make things worse..._", Big Mac concurred.

"_Instead, you should talk it over with them, and straighten things out.", _Rainbow Dash added, "_You may not even know the whole story_."

Scootaloo piped up, "_And even if you have messed up, remember that your friends, and family will always love you, and always be there for you no matter what."_

"_Everypony makes mistakes, but your mistakes do not define you_.", Fluttershy said, "_The important thing is that we learn from them, and try to make up for them."_

"_Because it's never too late to do the right thing._", Pinkie Pie nodded.

Spike smiled, "_And no matter how bad things may seem, you can always come home._"

"_Signed, now an' always, yer faithful subjects._", Granny Smith finished.

And with that, Spike promptly rolled the letter into a scroll, headed over to an open window, and used his flame breath to sent the letter on it's way to Princess Celestia.

* * *

The next morning, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo happily returned to Ponyville Schoolhouse. Miss Cheerlie had called together a meeting in the school basement, and upon entering, the Crusaders found that everypony was already waiting for them.

As the three of them made their way towards the back of the room, Featherweight happily nodded to them from where he stood before the rest of the schoolponies, while Miss Cheerlie smiled from behind the editor's desk.

"Welcome back, girls...", a kind voice said.

Turning in the direction of the voice, the three fillies were surprised to see that Filthy Rich, Diamond Tiara's father was also here.

"Do the three of you feel all right?", he asked as he approached them.

"Yes, Mr. Rich. We're fine. Just happy to be home.", Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo said respectively.

"I'm glad to hear that." Filthy Rich smiled, "But if there's anything I can do for you, just let me know."

"Thank you, Mr. Rich.", the three fillies replied.

"But in the meantime...", Filthy Rich continued, his voice turning serious, "I believe my daughter has something to say to the three of you. Right, Diamond Tiara?"

It was then that the Crusaders finally took full notice of Diamond Tiara, who had been silently standing at her father's side this whole time with her head down, and her tail between her legs. The pink earth filly almost looked as though she'd shrunk a size smaller since the Crusaders had last seen her the day they'd run away, and they were nearly taken aback by the sight of their bully looking so defeated.

Diamond Tiara was silent for a long moment, until at last she let out a low, barely audible sigh, and muttered, "...I'm sorry..."

"Young lady...", her father said sternly, "We've been over this already. Now, try again..."

Needless to say, Diamond Tiara was going to have to do better than that. Finally, she raised her head to look directly at Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo with eyes that were clearly a bit swollen, and puffy; the pink earth filly had not had the best of nights.

"I'm sorry that I made you keep writing hurtful gossip...", Diamond Tiara managed to say.

"And?", her father prodded.

"And for blackmailing you with those embarrassing pictures...", Diamond Tiara added begrudgingly.

Filthy Rich pressed further, "_And_?"

His daughter groaned, and looked up at Featherweight, "And I'm sorry for blackmailing you to, Featherweight."

"I'm sorry for _everything_ I did to _everypony_...", the pink earth filly said at last, before looking at her father as though silently asking him if he was satisfied yet.

"Good.", Filthy Rich said, giving his daughter another stern look before turning to Cheerlie, "I trust that you can take it from here, Miss Cheerlie?"

"Yes, Mr. Rich. I will manage.", Cheerlie nodded.

"Well then, I should probably be going.", Filthy Rich declared, before giving the schoolponies a smile, "Good day, everypony."

"Good day, Mr. Rich." the colts, and fillies all politely replied.

And with that, Filthy Rich headed out to be on his way, leaving his daughter to Cheerlie.

"Diamond Tiara, please come over here.", the school teacher requested.

Diamond Tiara did as instructed, and took a seat next to Cheerlie, taking care to _slowly_, and _gently_ ease her flank down on the floor, for she could still feel the spanking she'd received yesterday from her father.

She'd been put through the wringer. Besides losing her position as editor-in-chief, and being spanked by her father, he'd also given her the lecture to end all lectures before finally sending her to her room. And just when Diamond Tiara thought that it couldn't get any worse, she was stopped outside her bedroom door by her mother Spoiled Rich, who'd proceeded to give her daughter a terrible scolding for all the trouble she'd stirred up. Unlike her husband however, Spoiled Rich had been more concerned about this little scandal harming their social image than about all the grief that her daughter had caused everypony.

And now, Diamond Tiara was about to receive a few more choice words...

"Well, staff, it seems that I gave a little too much authority to a first-time editor.", said Miss Cheerlie before giving Diamond Tiara a stern glare, "I'm sorry, Diamond Tiara, I have to strip you of your title."

Of course, Diamond Tiara had, for all intents and purposes, already _been _stripped of her position, Cheerlie's declaration was just a formality to make it official to the rest of the staff, a point she emphasized by then removing the poster of Diamond Tiara from the back wall, while the pink earth filly could only growl in helpless frustration as she walked over to stand with the other schoolponies.

"And for the next editor of the Foal Free Press...", Cheerlie then announced, "I think we can all agree that in light of recent events, the school paper could use some more responsibility. Somepony who knows when things are going too far, and who won't make the same mistakes as before. And so, I have decided that the new editor-in-chief will be...Featherweight!"

Everypony (except Diamond Tiara) cheered at the announcement, but Featherweight himself was left absolutely speechless. He'd never expected to be made the editor-in chief like his sister had, and despite being forgiven for his part in the Gabby Gums scandal, the pegasus colt was still shocked that Miss Cheerlie would actually give him the position after all that.

"Muh... M-Miss Cheerlie, I... I...", Featherweight stammered, "I d-don't think I..."

Cheerlie smiled, "But I do, Featherweight. You did a very brave thing by admitting that you'd done something wrong, and then doing everything you could to make things right. I'm very proud of that, and that's exactly why I think you _should _be the new editor. And I know that you'll make your sister proud to."

Featherweight didn't know what to say. Despite Cheerlie's reasoning, and assurance, the little pegasus colt was a bit hesitant, and he instinctively looked over at Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, & Scootaloo. The Crusaders smiled, and nodded, showing him their support, and their approval of Miss Cheerlie's decision. Touched the show of encouragement, Featherweight finally took his place at the editor's desk as everypony cheered for him again.

Well, ALMOST everypony...

"Ugh! _Him_? But what about _me_?!", Diamond Tiara exclaimed, just before Shady Daze dumped the green visor, and apron for the printing position on her.

"Here you go! I've been promoted to staff photographer.", said Shady Daze, raising his camera to take a picture of her.

Blinded by the flash, Diamond Tiara slipped backwards into the printing press, splattering black ink all over her as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the rest staff all laughed at her. Unamused, the pink earth filly could do nothing, but lean back, and sulk against the printing press.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders however, were as happy as could be. They were home, surrounded by loving friends, and family, with all of the pain, and bitterness that had plagued the past few days .

Nothing could go wrong. Everything was right...

* * *

THE END.


End file.
